Park Jihyun's Demand for 'Jo Guk Apology' Met with Kim Namguk Saying, "Already Apologized, No Need to Do It Again..."

"Criticizing Yoon Cabinet While Demanding Apology from Cho Kuk Is a Strategic Mistake"

Kim Nam-guk, member of the Democratic Party of Korea. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Kim Namguk, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, expressed a negative reaction to Park Jihyun, co-chair of the Emergency Response Committee, demanding an apology from former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, saying, "I feel regretful whether it was really necessary to bring up such a matter again."

In an interview with YTN Radio on the 26th, Rep. Kim said, "Former Minister Cho has apologized to the public many times even before taking office," and added, "I am concerned that some people might think he has not apologized."

At the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly the day before, Co-chair Park demanded an apology from former Minister Cho regarding the issue of his children's admission corruption. Park's demand for an apology came while urging the voluntary resignation of Jeong Ho-young, nominee for Minister of Health and Welfare, and Kim In-cheol, nominee for Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, amid allegations of 'Daddy's chance' privileges. Park said, "Although the situation faced by former Minister Cho and his family due to the biased and harsh prosecution investigation is regrettable, to deal with corrupt candidates, we must confess and reflect on our own mistakes that caused similar problems."

In response, Rep. Kim argued that Park's 'Cho Kuk apology' remark was a strategic mistake, saying, "If the criticism had focused on the candidates causing problems during the personnel hearings, that part would have been reported, but only former Minister Cho's story was reported, and the issues regarding the candidates that the Emergency Response Committee actually intended to point out and criticize were overlooked."

Meanwhile, in response to Park's demand for an apology, former Minister Cho posted on Facebook, "Although I have serious disagreements with the facts and legal reasoning of the Supreme Court ruling, I respect and accept the judgment with a heavy heart," and added, "If you ask me to apologize again, I will apologize hundreds of times more. However, I would like to add that I hope the standards applied to the investigation, prosecution, and judgment of my family's case will be used to verify high-ranking officials of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration."

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