[Summary] Nam In-soon’s Tearful Apology of "Deep Regret"... Jin Joong-kwon Says "Crying Now?"

Nam In-soon "Please understand there were many difficulties"
Jin Joong-kwon "You proposed changing the victim to the complainant"
Kim Geun-sik "Apologies do not cover suspicions and mistakes"

Nam In-soon, Supreme Council Member of the Democratic Party of Korea / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Nam Insoon, a Supreme Council Member of the Democratic Party of Korea, publicly apologized on the 27th for the series of sexual misconduct issues involving Democratic Party local government heads, including the late Park Won-soon, former mayor of Seoul, who was accused of sexual harassment. This apology came 17 days after the deceased's passing. As a result, some critics have said, "You did nothing all this time and are only now breaking down in tears."

At the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly that morning, Nam said, "As a female Supreme Council member, I was part of the party leadership, but there were many obstacles and difficulties in making gender issues a central focus of the party."

She explained, "Although we established regulations for setting up a Gender Violence Counseling and Reporting Center, we could not secure dedicated personnel, so we had to rely on external experts. During the 2018 local elections, even when those accused of sexual violence who were excluded from nominations through the investigation and deliberation committee later filed false accusations against victims, it was difficult to properly prevent this."

She also showed tears, saying, "I deeply reflect on myself. I feel overlapping guilt and remorse," and asked for understanding, acknowledging the many difficulties faced.

Nam emphasized, "The world has changed, and the public's expectations have changed. The consecutive sexual violence incidents involving Democratic Party local government heads have caused female voters to turn away and likely not support the Democratic Party. We must transform the power imbalance in relationships in a balanced way to establish an organizational culture with gender sensitivity."

Former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon criticized Nam's apology as "crocodile tears" in a post on Facebook on the 27th. / Photo by Jin Joong-kwon Facebook capture

However, some criticized Nam Insoon's apology as being too late. Former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon strongly criticized on Facebook that day, calling it "crocodile tears" and saying, "Now you are breaking down in tears? It's disgusting."

He added, "Weren't you the one who proposed changing the term 'victim' to 'person claiming harm'? Because of that, victims had to suffer secondary harm from Moon fans (ardent supporters of President Moon Jae-in), and they still do. While victims are suffering additional harm, you have not said a word."

Jin also pointed out, "When the president tried to officially send a condolence wreath to the funeral of Ahn Hee-jung's mother, you should have stopped it. When the party tried to change the funeral of the late Mayor Park from a family funeral to a 'Seoul mayor' funeral, you should have stopped it. If you couldn't stop it, you should have at least criticized it, but you did nothing."

Kim Geun-sik, professor at Gyeongnam National University and head of the Future United Party's Songpa-byeong district party committee in Seoul, urged Nam to disclose the details of a phone call made on the day of Park's death, saying, "Now you are belatedly breaking down in tears and reflecting, but that does not cover all suspicions and wrongdoings."

Nam, who serves as the head of the Democratic Party's Gender Violence Eradication Task Force, has been criticized for being passive in expressing her stance on the sexual harassment allegations against the late Mayor Park.

On the 14th, she issued an apology statement with female Democratic Party lawmakers regarding the allegations, but controversy arose as the victim was referred to as a "person claiming harm."

Additionally, it was revealed that she had a phone call with the deceased on the morning of the 9th, the day of Park's death, leading to suspicions that she might have known about the sexual harassment accusations against Park in advance.

In response, Nam dismissed these claims at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 24th, stating, "I did not know about the accusations against Mayor Park," and "Reports by some media that I was informed of the accusation situation are not true."

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