After People Power Party Criticizes "Frequent Overseas Trips"... Lee: "Overseas Trips with IV Drips and Nosebleeds Are a Vacation?"

Directly pushes back against criticism of frequent overseas trips
"Journalists traveling with former and current presidents know best the results of their trips"
"To those who think overseas trips are for drinking, shopping and sightseeing, that's how they may look"

On October 31, President Lee Jaemyung directly pushed back against criticism from opposition parties, including the People Power Party, that he makes overseas trips too often. He stressed that the criticism was unfair, saying it was necessary to compare the schedules, workload and diplomatic achievements of former and current presidents.

President Lee Jaemyung and First Lady Kim Hyekyung greet well-wishers from Air Force One after arriving at Seoul Airport in Seongnam on Aug. 3, following a tour of the United States, South America and Germany. Aug. 3, 2026. Yonhap News.

That day, the president wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “From the perspective of people who think a presidential overseas trip means taking photos and taking credit without doing any work or preparation, then leisurely enjoying drinking, shopping and sightseeing, even an overseas trip that involves none of those things—not even sightseeing, shopping or drinking and dancing—but instead requires intensive advance preparation, long flights, a packed schedule of official duties with not even half a day off, and such a heavy workload that I frequently need IV drips and end up with nosebleeds, may look like a vacation.”

Lee went on to emphasize, “The journalists who travel with former and current presidents are in a better position to know the differences in their overseas-trip schedules and workloads, and in the results—the achievements of those trips.” He added pointedly, “As the saying goes, a Buddha sees only Buddhas, and a pig sees only pigs. People can see only as much as they know, so I ask for your understanding.”

The message came after Kim Seung-soo of the People Power Party questioned the number of overseas trips Lee has made, saying he had visited 23 countries on 14 occasions, during an October 29 parliamentary audit of the Presidential Office and the Office of National Security by the National Assembly’s House Steering Committee. Kim also criticized First Lady Kim’s accompanying the president on overseas trips.

In response, Wi Sung-lac, director of the Office of National Security, said at a press briefing at Cheong Wa Dae on October 30, “As our country’s international standing has risen significantly, there are several multilateral occasions throughout the year that our leader has to attend.” Wi said the schedule for summit diplomacy had grown because attendance at multilateral meetings—including the Group of Seven (G7), the Group of 20 (G20), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and the United Nations General Assembly—coincided with requests from other countries for visits.

On First Lady Kim’s accompanying the president, he also said, “It is customary for the first lady to accompany the president on such diplomatic trips,” adding, “It is somewhat unfair to raise questions about whether there are too many trips or why the first lady goes.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.