Kim Jong-in: "Pardon is the President's Authority... Others Should Not Interfere"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Lee Ji-eun and Lim Chun-han] Kim Jong-in, the Emergency Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, stated that the authority to grant pardons to former presidents lies with President Moon Jae-in, emphasizing, "No one else should be making comments about this."

After the Emergency Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 4th, Kim met with reporters and responded to a question about whether it is the right time for a pardon by saying, "The timing is a matter for the president to decide."

He stressed, "A pardon is a constitutional authority granted exclusively to the president," adding, "This is not a matter for others to be making various remarks about."

He also addressed rumors of communication between Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and the president. He said, "I don't know what intentions Lee had when he made such remarks at the beginning of the year, but I think there was some prior communication on these issues," and added, "Otherwise, I don't believe this issue just suddenly surfaced."

Regarding Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, who is calling for opposition unity and has taken first place in the Seoul mayoral opinion polls, Kim said, "Unification is the ultimate goal," but added, "As the leader of the People Power Party, my responsibility is to produce the candidate with the highest chance of winning from within our party," withholding further comment.

On the voices calling for former lawmaker Na Kyung-won and former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon to run as candidates for Seoul mayor, Kim said, "There could be up to 10 potential candidates within the party," and added, "After going through the primary process according to the rules we have set, the best candidate will emerge."

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