"Clear Overreach" Kim Jong-in Faces Internal Backlash Over Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye Apology Announcement

Kim Jong-in "Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye's public apology is a necessary time"
Opposition "Now is not the time", "Apologize starting from 'Moon administration's birth'"

Kim Jong-in, the Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, is deep in thought during the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the morning of the 7th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] On the 7th, opposition voices surged within the People Power Party regarding Kim Jong-in, the party's Emergency Response Committee Chairman, who announced a public apology concerning former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye.

Earlier, after concluding the Youth People Power Party founding convention held in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul on the 6th, Chairman Kim told reporters, "The public apology was something I had announced since I first joined the People Power Party," adding, "We couldn't properly do it due to the party's founding and other matters, but considering the timing, I think it has become a time when it must be done." It is known that the likely timing for the public apology is on the 9th, marking the fourth anniversary of the National Assembly's approval of the impeachment motion against former President Park.

Within the party, criticism has continued that Chairman Kim's 'public apology' is inappropriate. On the same day, Jang Je-won, a People Power Party lawmaker, posted on his Facebook, "Chairman Kim is trying to force an apology for the party's past, which many lawmakers including the most senior members and party members oppose," and claimed, "It is a clear overreach lacking procedural legitimacy and the legitimacy of the apologizing party."

He pointed out, "The People Power Party is not Chairman Kim's private party," and "Lawmakers and party members are not subordinates of Chairman Kim. The head of a temporary organization without legitimacy does not have the authority to unilaterally judge the party's history."

He continued, "An apology that has not even gone through a single party caucus meeting cannot have procedural legitimacy," and "Chairman Kim says he announced the apology when he joined the party. To whom and when did he announce it? Neither the media nor anyone, including Floor Leader Joo Ho-young who ultimately brought Chairman Kim in, has heard about it."

Additionally, Lawmaker Jang said, "If an apology for the past was a condition for taking office, Chairman Kim would not have been able to join the party in the first place," and added, "At a time when party efforts should be focused on stopping the Democratic Party's reckless actions, the Emergency Response Committee Chairman is only stirring premature apology controversies that cause party division. I start the week with a heavy heart."

Baek Hyun-jin, a member of the People Power Party, is making a procedural statement during the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's audit at the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the morning of October 7.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Fellow party member Bae Hyun-jin also opposed Chairman Kim, urging him to "apologize starting from the birth of the Moon Jae-in administration." On her Facebook, Bae criticized, "Who brought about President Moon Jae-in? Is Chairman Kim also going to blame the previous government?" and said, "There is an article that Chairman Kim plans to make a public apology for the two former presidents this week, which is dizzying due to cognitive dissonance."

She added, "If you insist on making a 'random apology' rather than the two former presidents who are already imprisoned and unlikely to come out until death, whose memories are faint, shouldn't you first apologize for the birth of the Moon administration itself?" and "as a mentor who brought about the Moon administration that overturned the constitutional history of this country and disrupted the lives of the people, I have been eagerly waiting for the words, 'Did you think I made you president for this?'"

Seo Byung-soo, the most senior five-term lawmaker of the People Power Party, also stated on his Facebook the day before, "Now is not the time (to make a public apology)," and questioned, "Is it because we have not apologized for the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye that the right-wing in South Korea has not found its place?"

He emphasized, "Now, the priority is to unite forces inside and outside the party to punish the ruthless left-wing 586 faction that labels the entire right-wing as corrupt and controls the executive, legislative, and judicial branches dreaming of dictatorship, and to make the party function normally," adding, "Only after that, it is not too late to remove all the false accusations and slanders imposed on former President Park Geun-hye and discuss her merits and demerits based on a proper reevaluation according to law and principles."

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