President Lee Jae Myung said that the live-streamed policy briefings currently underway are not a venue for political debate but a forum within the administrative chain of command for reporting and making improvements.

Speaking ahead of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources policy briefing in Sejong City on Wednesday, Lee said that administration and politics must be separate and questioned why the process was being politically exploited. 

He rejected claims that he was singling out officials appointed under the previous administration, stating that he has never disadvantaged anyone based on political affiliation.

Lee also criticized some public officials' responses to the briefings, saying they seemed overly politicized and that the individuals had given different answers within minutes or made one statement during the briefing only to say something else afterward. 

While Lee noted that it would be difficult to single out any specific individual and described the issue as a broader institutional culture, his remarks were widely seen as being directed at Incheon International Airport Corporation President and CEO Lee Hag-jae, who recently held a separate news conference after being publicly reprimanded during a policy briefing.