"Someone Close to Me" Kim Jong-in Pays Condolences for Hong Sa-deok

"I Never Imagined You Would Leave This Quickly"

Kim Jong-in, Emergency Committee Chairman of the United Future Party, is paying his respects at the funeral hall set up for former National Assembly Vice Speaker Hong Sa-deok at Seoul National University Hospital on the evening of the 18th. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Lim Juhyung] Kim Jong-in, Emergency Committee Chairman of the Future United Party, visited the funeral hall of the late Hong Sadeok, former Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, on the 18th to pay his respects.

After paying his respects at the late Hong's funeral hall set up at Seoul National University Hospital, Chairman Kim responded to reporters' questions about his relationship with the deceased by saying, "We cooperated during the 11th and 12th National Assembly sessions, and he was someone close to me."

He continued, "I haven't seen him since our last meeting in 2017," adding, "I heard that he was going through many difficulties mentally and that his health had recently deteriorated significantly, but I never imagined he would pass away so soon."

Earlier, Chairman Kim had worked alongside former Deputy Speaker Hong in Park Geun-hye's 2012 presidential campaign. At that time, the late Hong, who had established himself as a leader of the pro-Park (pro-Park Geun-hye) faction, served as the head of the campaign's election committee.

The late Hong is also reported to have expressed regretful feelings, saying that Chairman Kim "should have been appointed in the Park Geun-hye administration."

Meanwhile, at the late Hong's funeral hall, condolences were also expressed with floral tributes from President Moon Jae-in, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, Speaker of the National Assembly Park Byeong-seok, and others.

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