[Summary] Kim Jong-in's 'Public Apology', Internal Party Disagreement... "An Apology Worse Than None" vs "A Courageous Sincere Act"

Kim Jong-in, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, promised personnel reform along with a public apology regarding the arrest of a former president on the morning of the 15th at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suwan] Opinions are divided within the People Power Party regarding Kim Jong-in, the party’s Emergency Response Committee Chairman, issuing a public apology on the 15th for the mistakes of former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye. Some party members criticized Kim’s apology as "worse than no apology," while others expressed agreement, showing contrasting reactions.

On the same day, Kim held an emergency press conference at the National Assembly, stating, "On December 9, 2016, the impeachment motion against former President Park Geun-hye was passed in the National Assembly, and now, four years later, two former presidents of the Republic of Korea are simultaneously in custody," and added, "I sincerely apologize to the people."

Kim said, "The party that produces the president is entrusted by the people with the joint management responsibility and duty to lead the country well. The president’s mistakes are also the ruling party’s mistakes," and continued, "(However) our party, as the ruling party at the time, failed to fulfill such responsibilities and bore the heavy fault of not detecting and controlling problems within the ruling power in advance."

Kim particularly noted, "The mistakes of the two former presidents are deeply shadowed by the dark ties between politics and business. There were allegations of collusion with specific companies to gain unfair benefits or facilitate business succession," and added, "There were also crimes where those without official responsibility interfered in state affairs, disrupting law and order and manipulating state affairs. They broke promises made to the people." He further stated, "We must ensure that such incidents never happen again in our history."

As specific reform measures, he proposed tasks including △deep reflection on accumulated past mistakes and faults △rebuilding the party from its roots with structural and personnel reforms △seeking fundamental innovation in politics.

Earlier, Kim had expressed his intention to apologize regarding former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye. On the 6th, Kim stated, "This was something I announced when I first joined the People Power Party, but I had not been able to do it properly due to various considerations. I think the time has come to make a public apology," and initially planned to apologize to the public on the 9th, the date when Park’s impeachment motion was passed, but postponed it for nearly a week considering internal opposition and parliamentary circumstances.

Independent lawmaker Hong Jun-pyo is speaking at the National Assembly Defense Committee plenary session on October 6. Photo by Yonhap News

Meanwhile, opinions within the party are divided over Kim’s public apology. Hong Joon-pyo, former leader of the Liberty Korea Party (now People Power Party), criticized on his Facebook, "The one who got beaten up is apologizing to the one who hit him," calling it "a ridiculous situation unfolding in the year-end political turmoil. I have been in politics for 25 years, but I have never seen such an ungrateful opposition party."

He added, "The impeachment apology was broadly made by Chairman In Myung-jin during the last presidential election, and I also made one at Imjingak," and raised his voice, "This apology lacks representation and is an unexpected apology."

Lee Jae-oh, senior advisor of the People Power Party, told Yonhap News on the same day, "The facts in the apology statement are incorrect. They falsely pinned crimes on former President Lee," and criticized, "They say they want to embrace the moderate voters with this apology, but it will rather divide the fixed support base."

Park Dae-chul, a People Power Party lawmaker, also told the same media outlet, "If you are going to apologize, you should do it properly. This apology is worse than no apology," and criticized, "The president’s imprisonment involves complex and diverse aspects such as betrayal by the party, fake news, distortion, and agitation, but these were overlooked and reduced to a simple fault. It’s like solving a high-level equation with a first-degree equation."

On the other hand, Joo Ho-young, floor leader, accompanied Kim at the emergency press conference and expressed agreement with the apology’s intent. Earlier, Joo had supported the public apology but stated, "(Opposing opinions) need to be internally coordinated."

Lawmaker Kim Ki-hyun posted on his Facebook supporting Kim’s public apology, calling it "a courageous and sincere act for the country’s future, not humiliation."

Kim said, "I believe this is a small but meaningful step toward being recognized as a governing party," and pledged, "We will take this as an opportunity to rid the party of the lingering public rejection rooted in grassroots sentiment and to be reborn with genuine reflection, renewing our determination."

Fellow party member Kwon Seong-dong also appeared on KBS1’s 'Sasa Geongeon' on the evening of the 9th, stating, "There is a need to apologize not ten times but a hundred times until the people forgive," emphasizing the necessity of the apology. Kwon argued, "Among the virtues of conservatism, the most important are conscience and shame," and insisted, "For the apology to appear truly sincere, it must be made multiple times, not just once."

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