Park Ji-won "It's enough to cross the river of the homeland, why try to enter the river of the southern country?"

"Gaeddal Youth Politician Attack Is Wrong"
"Handonghun's Words Are Correct"

Former National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won, witnessing the division within the party between the pro-Myeong (친명) and anti-Myeong (비명) factions and their supporters over the issue of Representative Kim Nam-guk, who left the party amid allegations of cryptocurrency transactions worth billions, urged a future-oriented resolution, saying, "It is bad to fight over pro-Myeong and anti-Myeong when we are going through such difficulties."

On the 18th, on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' former Director Park said, "The Democratic Party is so divided into pro-Myeong and anti-Myeong. If they had crossed Cho-guk's river, that would have been enough. Why try to cross Nam-guk's river? Politics is about resolving these issues."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He also criticized the party's extreme fandom for attacking young politicians who pointed out Representative Kim's issues. Former Director Park said, "The 'Gaeddal' (extreme supporters) also attack former Supreme Council member Lee Dong-hak, who criticized Representative Kim, calling him an enemy of eight or seven factions. This is also bad," adding, "Regardless, whether it is the Democratic Party or Representative Kim Nam-guk, no matter how many mouths they have, they have wronged the people. Therefore, they should apologize and show a humble attitude. As I have repeatedly said, they need to demonstrate progress in three areas: legislation, asset declaration, and a full investigation, so that the public can see that the Democratic Party is reflecting and moving forward."

Former Director Park advised, "I called Representative Kim and told him not to argue about legality or illegality. The key issue is how the public perceives it; that is the essence of politics," adding, "You, Representative Kim, were the one doing the cryptocurrency trading, not Minister Han Dong-hoon or the prosecution ordering you. Why keep bringing that up?" He said that Representative Kim accepted this and proceeded to apologize publicly and voluntarily leave the party.

This was a critique of Representative Kim's claim that his cryptocurrency allegations were a product of 'Han Dong-hoon’s prosecution.' Regarding Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon’s remarks on Kim’s cryptocurrency issue, former Director Park said, "Minister Han spoke well. He said, 'I did cryptocurrency trading myself; did I order you to do it? Why blame me?' That is the correct statement."

When asked by the host about Representative Kim’s candidacy in next year’s general election, he said, "That will depend primarily on the results of the prosecution’s investigation," adding, "whether Representative Kim runs or not in next year’s general election is entirely contingent on the prosecution’s investigation results and the Ethics Committee’s decision."

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