Park Soo-young "Seoul Mayor, Risk of Secondary Harm"... Yang Hyang-ja "Regretful That It Becomes a Political Dispute"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Park Soo-young, a member of the United Future Party, criticized the late Park Won-soon, Mayor of Seoul, saying, "He was not on duty when he died, so using taxpayers' money for his funeral is inappropriate," and added, "The Seoul mayor's funeral could potentially cause secondary harm to the victim." In response, Yang Hyang-ja, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said, "We cannot deny the late Mayor Park's dedication to Seoul and society," and expressed regret, saying, "It is very unfortunate that even mourning the deceased has become a political controversy."

On the 13th, Park appeared on YTN Radio's 'Noh Young-hee's Start of a New Morning' and said, "He was not someone who died in the line of duty, but someone who made an extreme choice due to an unfortunate incident. It is said that about 1 billion won of taxpayers' money is being spent on the funeral. Is it right to use taxpayers' money for this?"

He continued, "A bigger problem is that the state taking charge of the funeral gives legitimacy to the deceased," and said, "From the victim's perspective, that is, the accuser's perspective, this could cause secondary harm, where the victim becomes the perpetrator and the perpetrator becomes the victim, which is a psychological issue."

In response, Yang said, "A funeral is an evaluation of a person's entire life," and added, "It is very unfortunate that even mourning the deceased has become a political controversy."

She further stated, "There are certainly people who oppose the form of the funeral, but many citizens have already visited the memorial altar to pay their respects to the deceased. Also, we cannot deny the parts where Park Won-soon dedicated himself to Seoul and society," and added, "Whether his tenure as mayor was right or wrong is something history will judge."

Bae Hyun-jin, spokesperson for the United Future Party, made remarks directed at the late Mayor Park's son, Joo-shin, saying, "After the award ceremony, you should faithfully attend the ongoing second trial related to allegations of military service fraud," which has drawn criticism for being factually incorrect. In response, Park said, "The facts should have been checked more thoroughly," but added, "Overall, since there are still public suspicions, some citizens are raising questions, so it might be better to clear things up for the sake of your father's honor."

Yang criticized, "(Spokesperson Bae's) timing of such remarks is also very painful for the other party," and said, "He is abroad and has not even seen his father yet. I wondered if such remarks were appropriate, especially since this matter was closed with no charges in 2013."

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