Park Ji-won on Controversy Over Honorary Membership in Jo Guk Innovation Party: "I Am a Democrat to the Core... I Sincerely Apologize"

"Call for Unity of Anti-Yoon Forces to Secure 200 Seats"

Park Ji-won, former Director of the National Intelligence Service and the Democratic Party of Korea candidate for Haenam, Wando, and Jindo in the April 10 general election, apologized for his remark about being an "honorary member of the Joguk Innovation Party."

Park Ji-won, Former Director of the National Intelligence Service [Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 20th, Park said on Facebook, "I am a Democrat to the core of my bones, and I take pride in having led the charge over the past two years to unite around Representative Lee Jae-myung to judge the Yoon Seok-yeol and Kim Geon-hee prosecution regime." He added, "Although my remark about being an honorary member of the Joguk Innovation Party was meant as a compliment, I sincerely apologize if it was inappropriate." Park explained the intent behind his statement, saying, "The Democratic Party must secure a majority of seats. It is a heartfelt wish that all anti-Yoon (anti-Yoon Seok-yeol) forces unite to secure 200 seats, making the exercise of veto power impossible." He further added, "I also want to mention that supporting the victory of the Democratic Coalition, a proportional representation party of the opposition, and promoting candidate Seo Mi-hwa, who has a compelling story as the number one proportional candidate, will help gain votes."

Earlier, on the 18th, Park appeared on the SisaIN YouTube broadcast with Joguk Innovation Party leader Jo Guk. When Jo said, "Since our political outlooks are the same, we should later welcome you as an honorary member," Park responded, "Dual party membership is not allowed, so honorary member sounds good." However, the Democratic Party leadership deemed Park's remark "inappropriate" during a late-night Supreme Council meeting the previous day. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said, "If you are a Democratic Party candidate, you should naturally be an honorary member of the Democratic Coalition." Supreme Council member Jung Cheong-rae also stated, "As a member of the party leadership, I will discuss this serious matter at the Supreme Council meeting." However, whether to discipline Park is still under discussion.

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