Kim Jong-in "Surrender to Communist Forces? Who Would Surrender to North Korea Now?"

Regarding President Yoon Suk-yeol's statement in his Liberation Day speech the previous day that "we must not be deceived or succumb to communist totalitarian forces, their blind followers, and supporters," former People Power Party emergency committee chairman Kim Jong-in pointed out that "who in our country would succumb to the North?" and criticized the overgeneralization of a very small minority.

On the 16th, Kim, in an interview on KBS's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs,' said, "I don't know how many such forces actually exist in South Korea, but perhaps a very small number of people might be like that. However, to generalize that is, I think, somewhat problematic."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He also criticized President Yoon's remarks as inappropriate for national unity. Kim said, "Our country is actually in a situation where it is sharply divided," adding, "ordinary citizens are showing a divided appearance, and politics should strive to find ways to harmonize this. If this division is taken as a given and the opposition is constantly pushed in that direction, in my view, that is not appropriate for national unity."

He continued, "With our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) now well over $30,000, I don't think this is an era to be discussing left or right-wing ideologies based on old ways of thinking," adding, "If we keep talking about freedom as if there are special people who oppose it, such so-called political acts do not help the national interest."

Regarding the Liberation Day pardon, which was promoted as an 'economic revitalization' measure, he said, "People are talking as if the pardons were granted to revive the economy, but while that might be a justification, looking at those individuals, they are not figures who can significantly impact the Korean economy," adding, "The economic level of the Republic of Korea is not such that it can be revitalized by those people."

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