Sung Il-jong: "Impeachment is impeachment... Claims of rejecting impeachment are a minority opinion"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Seong Il-jong, Emergency Response Committee member of the People Power Party, dismissed the party's internal opinion that "the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye was wrong" on the 27th, stating, "Impeachment is impeachment."

On the same day, Seong appeared on MBC Radio's Kim Jong-bae's Focus and said, "(Impeachment) is already a matter concluded by the Constitutional Court of the country," adding, "History can only be recorded as history." He continued, "It is not desirable to keep digging up the past as we move toward the future," and said, "I think it is right to discuss how our party can reform to give hope to the people and how to lead the difficult Republic of Korea with a future vision."

He also emphasized that the claim of rejecting the impeachment is only a minority opinion within the People Power Party. Seong said, "(The claim that impeachment was wrong) is the story of one or two people and not the party's overall opinion," adding, "The majority of lawmakers agree that history should be left as history and we should move forward to the future."

Earlier, on the 20th, People Power Party lawmaker Seo Byung-soo stated during a National Assembly government inspection question session, "It is hard for me, who has common sense, to understand whether former President Park committed illegal acts enough to be impeached, whether she committed crimes to the extent of being sentenced to imprisonment, fined, or paying fines, and whether it is acceptable to torment and neglect a former president to this extent." Following this remark, criticism arose both inside and outside the party, accusing him of rejecting the impeachment.

However, Seong opposed the calls to discipline Seo. He said, "It is strange to discipline someone over such matters," and added, "I think it is not right to discipline just because the direction they are going is different from ours."

Meanwhile, Seong expressed a skeptical view on the resumption of political activities by former party leader Hwang Kyo-ahn. Seong said, "It is inappropriate," and pointed out, "There must be various public agreements on the defeat." He added, "There must be a consensus that the public can accept regarding the resumption of political activities, and then the possibility can be opened," and said, "Considering the situation in the Republic of Korea where the ruling party is dominant, shouldn't someone show a more responsible attitude?"

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