Park Jie-won Criticizes Yoon Suk-yeol's 'Underwear Incident' Making Global Headlines: "A President Should Maintain Dignity"

Park Jie-won Criticizes Yoon for Refusing Arrest in Underwear
"In a Nation of Etiquette, One Should Dress When Guests Arrive"

Park Jie-won, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who reportedly refused to comply with the arrest warrant executed by Special Prosecutor Min Jung-ki's team while dressed only in his underwear, calling it "plainly an embarrassing incident."

Former President Yoon Sukyeol is entering the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 9th of last month to attend a pre-arrest detention hearing. Photo by Asia Economy

On August 4, during an appearance on BBS Radio's "Morning Journal with Keum Tae-seop," Park said, "This has become an international headline?what kind of spectacle is this?"

On August 1, the special prosecutor's team visited Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, to directly execute the arrest warrant. However, their attempt failed due to former President Yoon's refusal. The special prosecutor's team made a total of four requests for Yoon to comply with the arrest warrant at Seoul Detention Center, where he is incarcerated, but Yoon reportedly showed no willingness to cooperate, lying down in a sleeveless shirt and underwear and interrupting the team's statements.

Park remarked, "Did Yoon Suk-yeol (the former president) think he was at a hotel? He was unanimously removed from office by the Constitutional Court as the ringleader of an insurrection, and he is currently under criminal indictment and on trial in detention. As a president, he should maintain some dignity?what he did is shameful."

He continued, "In our country, known for its etiquette, even if you are undressed, you put on clothes when guests arrive. But what is this about his body temperature rising, or having a fever, so he just threw off his clothes and lay there? What kind of spectacle is that?"

Regarding Jeong Cheong-rae, the newly elected leader of the Democratic Party, Park commented, "It is astonishing that he received 62 to 63 percent support not only in the Seoul metropolitan area but also in Yeongnam, Chungcheong, and Honam. I also think it is significant that a representative from the Chungcheong region has been elected to lead the Democratic Party in recent times."

He added, "Our citizens and party members are focused on reforms such as ending insurrection and prosecutorial reform, so I believe they highly valued Jeong Cheong-rae's politics, which have always kept reform in mind, whether as chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee or otherwise. Of course, the special prosecutor and the judiciary have their roles, but the issue of ending insurrection that Jeong Cheong-rae raised will be strongly pushed by the party as well. Jeong Cheong-rae is a man of both words and action."

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