Regarding Choi Jae-hyung's Resignation... Jeong Cheong-rae: "Can One Become a Pro-Japanese Collaborator After Fighting for Independence?"

Choi Jae-hyung, Who Announced His Resignation, "Will Gradually Talk About Presidential Run"

Jeong Cheong-rae, member of the Democratic Party of Korea.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] On the 28th, Jeong Cheong-rae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized Choi Jae-hyung, the head of the Board of Audit and Inspection who expressed his intention to resign, saying, "If someone who fought for independence immediately becomes a pro-Japanese collaborator just because their independence movement line does not match, is that acceptable?"

On the same day, Jeong posted on his Facebook under the title "Does the mudskipper jump because the squid jumps?" and said, "Is it the season of betrayal? A person who has betrayed once will betray again, and when someone opens the path of betrayal, a line of followers quickly forms."

He pointed out, "The most foolish person in the world is someone who fought for independence all their life but turned into a pro-Japanese collaborator on August 14, and the most cunning person is someone who was a pro-Japanese collaborator all their life but pretends to be an independence activist on August 16."

Then, Jeong said, "Just as the mudskipper jumps because the squid jumps, both the squid and the mudskipper are merely products of desire," adding, "They may present plausible justifications, but to the eyes of the people, they are just small fish caught in the net." He concluded his post by saying, "Both the squid and the mudskipper will become an eyesore."

Choi Jae-hyung, the Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection, who is mentioned as a potential presidential candidate from the opposition, is expressing his position to the press regarding his resignation and future plans as he arrives at the Board of Audit and Inspection in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 28th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, Choi expressed his intention to resign from the position of head of the Board of Audit and Inspection. On the morning of the same day, he told reporters on his way to work at the Board, "Given the many controversies regarding my position, I judged that it is not appropriate to continue serving as the head of the Board of Audit and Inspection, so I expressed my intention to resign to the President today."

He added, "I feel sorry to the people, the appointing authority, and the members of the Board for not being able to complete my term as the head of the Board."

However, regarding whether he will run in next year's presidential election, Choi said, "This is not the place to talk about that," and added, "There will be opportunities to talk about it gradually," withholding further comments.

Meanwhile, last year during the National Assembly audit, Choi revealed that the announcement of the Board of Audit and Inspection's audit on the validity of the early shutdown of the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 was delayed due to "strong resistance."

At that time, he said, "Since becoming the head of the Board, this is the first audit with such strong resistance from the audited parties," and lamented, "After the National Assembly's audit request, officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy deleted all related materials, which took time to recover, and the process of taking statements was also quite difficult."

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