The Return of Sim Sang-jung: "'Cho Kuk Incident' Silence, the Most Painful Misjudgment in 20 Years of Political Life"

Sim Sang-jung Returns After Five Days: "I Will Restore the Essence of Progressive Politics"
"The Most Painful Criticism? 'Justice Party Without Justice'"

Sim Sang-jung, the Justice Party's presidential candidate, is holding a press conference for the public at the National Assembly on the afternoon of the 17th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Sim Sang-jung, the Justice Party's presidential candidate, reflected on her failure to voice criticism during the so-called 'Cho Kuk incident' while cooperating with the ruling party to pass the mixed-member proportional representation system, saying, "Even now, I think it was the most painful misjudgment in my 20 years in politics." She resumed official schedules on the 17th, five days after going into seclusion.

On the 18th, Sim said on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' "The phrase 'Justice Party without justice' is the most painful," adding, "The accumulated distrust over the failure of the recent electoral reform and the disappointing image the party has shown since then has not been restored at all."

Sim continued, "I have apologized several times, but I realized again during the election process that the public's distrust has not yet been lifted," and said, "We wanted to have power and truly improve people's lives through politics. So we put everything into electoral reform, but ultimately failed, and in the process, the values and principles of the progressive party were greatly shaken."

She also analyzed, "There are citizens who believe that progressive parties are necessary in our country and hope for their healthy growth, but I think we deeply hurt their self-esteem," adding, "That disappointment became a major reason for people to withdraw their expectations from the Justice Party."

Sim then promised to restore the essence of progressive politics. She stated, "I will not be fixated on the remaining 50 days of the campaign but will conduct a campaign that earnestly fulfills the urgency of 20 years of progressive politics and the necessity of being a forward-looking alternative party," and added, "The results will be reflected in the presidential election, and beyond that, I will look ahead to the post-local elections process and rebuild the party's future."

Regarding this election being called the 'most disliked presidential election ever,' she reflected, "It is indeed a disliked election, and I was part of that dislike." She said, "Morally, I have no issues and have never been involved in any qualification controversies. However, after COVID-19, inequality has deepened and citizens' lives have become harder. I deeply reflected on whether I showed the determination to overcome this disliked election with the urgency that matches this crisis."

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