Kim Du-gwan "Strongly Condemn Lee Jae-yong's Parole... Why No Expression from Lee Jae-myung and Lee Nak-yeon?"

"The Day of Humiliation When the Ministry of Justice Kneels Before Chaebol Power"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Kim Du-kwan, a presidential candidate from the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized the Ministry of Justice's decision on the 9th to grant parole to Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong as "truly pathetic." At the same time, he reproached ruling party presidential candidates such as Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung, former party leader Lee Nak-yeon, and former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, saying that they showed "no explicit expression of opinion either before or after the parole decision for Vice Chairman Lee."

On the evening of the same day, immediately after news broke that Vice Chairman Lee's parole had been approved, Kim posted on Facebook a message titled "Strongly Condemning Lee Jae-yong's Parole," expressing his stance. Earlier that afternoon, before the parole decision was finalized, Kim had also demanded other presidential candidates to state their positions via Facebook, saying, "Silence at this time is synonymous with approval."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim pointed out, "As for candidate Lee Nak-yeon, I did not expect anything since he even mentioned pardoning two former presidents and was already seen as co-opted by chaebol vested interests long ago. However, I cannot help but feel disappointed that candidate Lee Jae-myung, who has advocated for the political philosophy of protecting the weak and fairness, has not explicitly opposed the parole."

He added, "I have already declared that Lee Jae-yong's parole is a signal that the Democratic Party of Korea is betraying the candlelight citizens who impeached the corrupt power colluding with chaebols and longed for a fair country, and that I am absolutely opposed to it."

Kim criticized, "Vice Chairman Lee was a key figure in the Park Geun-hye administration's state affairs manipulation scandal," and pointed out, "If there had been no chaebols bribing the power, there would have been no state affairs manipulation." He continued, "How can one talk about the rule of law and justice when a major criminal who shook the country is released after serving only 60% of a lenient 2 years and 6 months sentence?"

The criticism then shifted to candidate Lee Jae-myung. Kim evaluated, "Candidate Lee Jae-myung rose to become a presidential candidate backed by candlelight citizens who called for Lee Jae-yong's arrest and opposed his pardon in 2017," but added, "This time, he changed his stance, arguing that there should be no discrimination in parole for chaebols, and ultimately succumbed to chaebol power. Candidate Lee Jae-myung should refrain from mentioning fairness and protecting the weak."

He emphasized, "Today will be recorded as a day of humiliation when the Ministry of Justice knelt before chaebol power," and stressed, "I will create a truly advanced country where greater power entails greater responsibility."

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