Kim Min-seok: "Song Young-gil is a 'person with little greed for wealth,' he spoke of having no property or house"

Published 24 Apr.2023 09:18(KST)

Kim Min-seok, the Democratic Party Policy Committee Chair, who was criticized for calling former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil, who declared his withdrawal from the party amid allegations of money envelopes, a "person with little greed," stated, "I was surprised to see him appear in various places (in the articles) more than I expected."

On the 24th, Kim said on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' "He is not relatively wealthy, nor does he own a house, and that was the point I was making."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the previous day, Kim expressed his thoughts on Song's press conference on his social media, saying, "Like me, he is a rare politician of the same generation who still does not own a house. While it may be grand to say he is austere, I guarantee that he is a person with little greed." However, criticism followed regarding his comment that Song, who is involved in the money envelope allegations, is "a person with little greed."

Kim also highly evaluated Song's withdrawal from the party. Kim said, "It is not easy for a politician to leave the party," adding, "From that perspective, he had his own rule that if certain situations arose during his leadership, he would leave the party to prove himself and then return, and he followed that rule exactly, so I take that seriously."

He continued, "Regarding this situation, as a party member and someone responsible, leaving the party to prove himself and then returning with the attitude of doing his best shows consistency with what he has upheld."

However, there are criticisms in the political circle that withdrawal alone is insufficient. Yoo In-tae, a senior advisor of the Democratic Party, even mentioned 'retirement from politics,' but Song effectively rejected this. Kim said, "The press conference was not focused on whether he would retire from politics," explaining, "Saying 'yes' or 'no' to that would have been too grandiose for the situation at the time."

It is also a matter of interest whether the Democratic Party will use Song's press conference as an opportunity to resolve the money envelope allegations and show a changed image. He said, "The party as a whole carries a heavy heart, but we cannot be bound only by that. Recently, there have been many failures in state affairs and public livelihood issues, so as the leading party in the National Assembly, we have responsibilities," adding, "We will correct what needs to be corrected, but politics is about solving the difficulties of the people from their perspective and properly addressing diplomatic issues with alternatives, which is our utmost duty."