[Morning Briefing] President Lee presides over first Cabinet meeting... People Power Party holds general meeting today

◆ President Lee presides over first Cabinet meeting since taking office... Also to hold a security review meeting

President Lee Jae-myung will preside over his first Cabinet meeting since inauguration at the Yongsan Presidential Office on the 5th. President Lee is expected to emphasize the importance of government continuity and urge for the establishment of strong public service discipline. On the previous day, all Cabinet members, including First Deputy Prime Minister and Acting Prime Minister Lee Ju-ho, who is also the Minister of Education, collectively offered their resignations to President Lee, and President Lee only accepted the resignation of Park Seong-jae, the Minister of Justice. As accepting all resignations early in the term could cause disruptions in the governance and may jeopardize the legal quorum for Cabinet meetings, it appears President Lee intends to retain incumbent ministers until new appointments are finalized. Separately, President Lee is also scheduled to hold a security review meeting to assess the nation’s safety system.

◆ 'Supreme Court Justice Increase Bill' passes Legislation and Judiciary Subcommittee

The amendment to the Court Organization Act, which increases the number of Supreme Court Justices, has passed the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee’s Bill Review Subcommittee. The committee held its first bill review subcommittee meeting at around 2 p.m. on the 4th, President Lee Jae-myung’s inauguration day, and agreed to an amendment to raise the number of Supreme Court Justices from the current 14 to 30. According to the supplementary provisions, 16 more justices will be added over four years (four per year), but the implementation is postponed for one year after promulgation. The Democratic Party passed the amendment single-handedly after People Power Party lawmakers walked out. Two separate proposals—one from Kim Yong-min to increase the number to 30 justices, and one from Jang Kyung-tae to increase it to 100—were discussed and reviewed together in the subcommittee. Bae Hyeong-won, Deputy Director of the Court Administration Office, attended and expressed concerns that careful examination was needed prior to amendment. The Democratic Party initially intended to finalize the amendment in a plenary committee meeting the same day, but as the subcommittee took longer than expected, no further meetings were held. The next plenary committee meeting is expected soon, when Cheon Dae-yeop (Supreme Court Justice and head of the Court Administration Office) will attend and state his opinion on the justice increase bill.

◆ People Power Party, general meeting today... Likely to discuss measures for party stabilization

On the 5th, prior to the plenary session, the People Power Party will hold a general assembly of lawmakers at the National Assembly to discuss how to respond to the three special prosecutor bills—the Insurrection Special Prosecutor Bill, the Special Prosecutor Bill for Mrs. Kim Geon-hee, and the Special Prosecutor Bill for the Marine Private Chae—being pushed independently by the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party also plans to process the Prosecutors' Disciplinary Act along with the three special prosecutor bills, allowing the Justice Minister as well as the Prosecutor General to directly request prosecutor disciplinary action. As this is the first general meeting since the party’s presidential election defeat, discussion over stabilization measures is expected. With pro-Han Dong-hoon lawmakers arguing that the party leadership should take responsibility and resign, debate on party leadership restructuring is likely to intensify. There will be heated discussions on matters such as forming new leadership through a party convention, maintaining the Emergency Countermeasures Committee system, and whether to replace the floor leader.

◆ US Commerce Secretary "Renegotiating semiconductor subsidy terms"

Howard Lutnick, US Secretary of Commerce, stated on the 4th (local time) that renegotiations are underway concerning some of the subsidies promised to semiconductor firms investing in the US under the 'Chips Act.' According to Reuters, Secretary Lutnick told the Senate Appropriations Committee that some subsidies previously agreed upon under the Biden administration seemed "overly generous" and added, "We have been able to renegotiate those." She said, "Every deal is getting better," and added, "The only things not being agreed to are those which should not have been considered in the first place."

◆ New York stock market ends mixed on US economic slowdown signals

The three major indexes on the New York Stock Exchange ended mixed. As of the 4th (Eastern Time), on the NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.22% compared to the previous session. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 Index edged down 0.01%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.32%. Amid lessened expectations for a US-China deal after President Donald Trump commented that negotiations with China would not be easy, and as US economic indicators worsened, upward momentum weakened. According to the ADP National Employment Report, private employment in May rose by 37,000 compared to the previous month, the lowest since March 2023 and far short of market expectations of 115,000.

◆ 'Early summer heat with highs reaching 30°C'

June 5th, the solar term "Mangjong" and a Thursday suitable for rice planting, will see mostly clear weather nationwide. Daytime high temperatures will range from 24 to 30°C, similar to or slightly higher than average. Most regions will experience highs above 25°C and Gyeongsang inland areas around 30°C, bringing hot weather. There will be a large temperature difference, around 15°C, between day and night, especially inland. Until morning, there may be fog with visibility below 1 km centering on Jeollanam-do. Fine dust concentrations will remain at ‘good’ levels nationwide due to the inflow of clean southwesterly air. There may be sea fog over the West Sea, South Sea, and around Jeju Island, and on islands visibility may drop to around 200 m, so caution is advised for maritime safety. Wave heights on near seas in the East, West, and South Seas will be 0.5–1.0 m. In offshore waters (about 200 km from the coastline), wave heights are expected to be 0.5–2.0 m in the East Sea and 0.5–1.5 m in the West and South Seas.

Choi Su-jin, Hankyung.com reporter naive@hankyung.com