Choo Mi-ae Criticizes Lee Nak-yeon... "Only Obsessed with Managing Appearances and Polls"

"Moon Jae-in Government, Lack of Will... Responsible for Results"
"What Solution Is There If We Only Blame Cho Kuk?"

Former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae recently hinted that former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon bears responsibility for the rise of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, stating that "self-reflection must come first" regarding Lee's 'role theory' after his recent return to Korea.

On the 27th, Choo appeared on YTN's 'News King Park Ji-hoon' and responded to the host's question about the 'Lee Nak-yeon role theory' by saying, "Rather than focusing on the role itself, when the candlelight protesters asked, 'Is this a country?', they must have hoped for fundamental change. However, there was too much focus on managing the status quo, constantly worrying about public opinion polls, and almost no effort to help people understand and design the ultimate goals together, even if it took time."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

She added, "In that sense, self-reflection must come first," and said, "Being overly cautious, strict, and timid about public opinion polls has led to what? The birth of this prosecutorial state is simply a total failure." This can be interpreted as meaning that former leader Lee also bears responsibility for the rise of the Yoon administration.

When asked by the host whether the Moon Jae-in administration could also be seen as unsuccessful, Choo said, "Politics is judged by results, not processes," adding, "When people asked, 'Is this a country?', they hoped for the eradication and reform of fundamental social contradictions. Media and prosecutorial reforms are the most important, but neither was carried out." This implies that the Moon administration also failed.

She said, "It should be seen as a lack of will. They were afraid. So they maintained the status quo and just gave up. They hesitated. They were timid," adding, "They bear responsibility for the outcome."

Regarding former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk's candidacy, she said, "People say Cho is running. Judging the pros and cons or criticizing based on that premise is extremely undemocratic and inhumane," adding, "The prosecutorial state is being born, destroying everything in its path, yet there is no self-reflection to stop it. Instead, people just try to avoid it by blaming everything on 'Cho Kuk. It's Cho Kuk's fault now, and it will be Cho Kuk's fault in next year's general election,' which is very wrong."

She continued, "If one is not strict with oneself and cannot accurately face what they failed to do or what their group neglected to cause this situation, no solution will emerge," adding, "What solution can come from just blaming former Minister Cho?"

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