Park Kwang-on "The ruling party must demand the withdrawal of Shin Won-sik's nomination for 'defending Lee Wan-yong'"

Park Kwang-on, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated on the 20th that "Shin Won-sik, the nominee for Minister of National Defense, has been revealed to be unqualified and unsuitable as a Cabinet member and Minister of National Defense, and the public's judgment is final," adding, "We hope the People Power Party will request the President to withdraw the nomination."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

At the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly that morning, Floor Leader Park strongly criticized nominee Shin Won-sik, saying, "Not only did he praise a military coup, but he also made outrageous remarks defending Lee Wan-yong."

Park said, "It was revealed that nominee Shin defended Lee Wan-yong, a traitor who signed the Eulsa Treaty, saying there were 'unavoidable aspects' to his actions," and criticized, "This also confirmed the pro-Japanese colonial historical perspective that even if our country had resisted at that time, the difference in national power was so significant that maintaining independence would have been difficult."

He continued, "The public is seriously concerned that the colonial historical perspective might be the ideological background of this administration’s governance, as seen in the President’s March 1st Independence Movement Day speech and the Minister of Unification’s thesis," he pointed out.

Regarding nominee Lee Gyun-yong for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he said, "There was an absurd incident where he answered 'I don’t know well' to the question of whether 'comfort women were voluntary prostitutes,'" and criticized, "From now on, the standards for personnel screening of public office candidates in the Republic of Korea must prioritize the country’s legitimacy and historical awareness."

On the same day, Floor Leader Park also continued his criticism regarding the government’s tax cuts and fiscal austerity. He said, "Our country’s economic growth rate is about to be overtaken by Japan," adding, "While other countries’ growth rates have been rising since COVID-19, only our country’s is declining." He mentioned that this year’s tax revenue shortfall reached 59 trillion won, criticizing, "Despite the largest-ever tax revenue deficit, the Ministry of Economy and Finance did not properly report to the National Assembly. It is an issue that could be quietly overlooked with just a press release." He stated, "The biggest problem is that if this continues, there will be no fiscal capacity to respond to low growth and economic recession," and argued, "The tax cut policy must be abolished, and the contribution of fiscal policy to economic growth must be increased." He emphasized, "The Democratic Party will thoroughly review the tax law amendments that will have a decisive impact on next year’s tax revenue."

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