Park Ji-won: "Jung Chung-rae's Declaration of Not Running for President Will Burden Kim Min-seok"... Why?

[Ju Yeong-jin's News Briefing]

When quoting this interview, please clearly credit the program SBS <Ju Yeong-jin's News Briefing>. Copyright belongs to SBS.

■ Broadcast: SBS <Ju Yeong-jin's News Briefing> Monday – Friday ( 14:00 – 15:20)
■ Host: Anchor Ju Yeong-jin
■ Guest: Representative Park Ji-won of the Democratic Party of Korea
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● Interview with Democratic Party Representative Park Ji-won
"Jung Chung-rae's 'Not Running for President' Remark Will Burden Kim Min-seok"
"Jung Chung-rae is too deeply immersed in his own political narrative... catching his own ankles"
"Trump in the US is also in his 80s... I cannot agree with the criticism of the Democratic Party's '86 generation'"
"Regarding the HudanHyeop incident, Kim Min-seok should speak honestly... getting a preemptive vaccine might be better"
"Kim Min-seok's absence from the vote to lift martial law has been sufficiently explained"
"Under no circumstances should we return to Yoon Suk-yeol's politicized prosecution"
"Abolishing supplementary investigative powers can be discussed in cases of child and sex crimes"


▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: Representative Park Ji-won of the Democratic Party is here with us. Welcome.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: It has been a while.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: Journalists evaluate you as a '9th-degree black belt in politics' (a political mastermind). Do you wish they would call you a 10th-degree instead?

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: If I were a 9th-degree black belt, I would have become the National Assembly Speaker. Since I lost, I am just a 9th-grade novice.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: A 9th-grade novice. I see. Many media outlets seem to have been asking you about the issue of supplementary investigative powers recently, but we cannot miss asking you about the hot-off-the-press news, as it concerns the Democratic Party. Former leader Jung Chung-rae said, "I have no intention of using the party leadership position to run for president. I will become the planner of a presidential victory." A reporter asked him, "Are you running or not? The interpretation could be confusing." To which he replied, "I would like you to take it exactly as I said." What is this? Since you have been in politics for a long time.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: In the past, the best thing for politicians was to give vague answers to reporters' questions.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: Answers that leave all possibilities open.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: Yes. But nowadays, the public's political awareness is high, so if you do that, they think, "That person is calculating something." In any case, candidate Jung Chung-rae threw out a remark in his characteristic style, but this will be a huge burden for candidate Kim Min-seok.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: So you mean he made that remark with candidate Kim Min-seok in mind rather than himself.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: Exactly. He put up a smokescreen by saying he won't do his own politics, but I don't know how many people would actually believe those words.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: How many people would believe those words... But what is your basis for thinking that remark will burden candidate Kim Min-seok?

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: Candidate Kim Min-seok is someone who ran for party leader with an eye on being the next presidential candidate. No matter how he puts it, that is how everyone sees it. And honestly, former leader Song Young-gil is the same. I think former leader Jung Chung-rae is getting too deeply involved in his own political issues. In doing so, he has caught his own ankles. In any case, former leader Jung Chung-rae said he won't think about running for president if he becomes party leader. But will he even become party leader? That is the first question. If he doesn't, he will probably run (for president).

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: If he doesn't become party leader?

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: Right. Because he said if he becomes leader, he won't run to focus on party politics. He is keeping all his options open.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: But you, Representative Park, have been strongly saying for some time that former leader Jung Chung-rae should not run, but now he has declared his candidacy.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: Well, that is because, aside from the defeat in the local elections, President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating, which was near 70%, hit a dead Cross.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: Right.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: If the Democratic Party's approval rating falls behind even that of the Naeran Party (Rebellion Party), the party must take political responsibility. While the Prime Minister takes governmental and administrative responsibility, the party leader must take political responsibility under a presidential system. So, I wished he wouldn't run, as a way of resigning and taking full responsibility. But since he says he will run, what can I say? It is good that he ran.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: It is good that he ran? Since he will receive a clear evaluation and judgment from the party members.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: Exactly.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: As of now, we don't know how accurately we can predict the voters' sentiment a month from now, but from your perspective, Representative Park, the three leading candidates for the next party leadership are all from the '86 generation' (those who went to college in the 1980s and were born in the 1960s).

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: There are five.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: Five, of course, I was planning to ask about those other two later. But when focusing on the '86 generation' aspect, isn't the point of those other two—Representative Ko Min-jung and former Gangjin County Councilor Kim Bo-mi—asking whether the '86 generation' should still be the main players of the Democratic Party, and whether that makes sense?

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: Well, regardless of time and place, there are cases where a younger generation takes the lead as presidential candidates. However, for lawmakers, the legislature needs a harmony of the old, middle-aged, and young. Isn't Trump in the United States also in his 80s?

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: That is true.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: So, I cannot agree with the criticism of physically questioning how long the '86 generation' will continue to hold power.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: Even Nancy Pelosi, who held immense power in the US Democratic Party, was active in the field until her mid-80s.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: Yes. That is why we cannot dismiss them, but because what kind of figure the times demand changes from moment to moment. In any case, those three are promising figures in our Democratic Party, so they are competing.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: Looking at it, when those two first started in politics, you, former Representative Park, were probably involved in that process. But former leader Jung Chung-rae entered during the 17th National Assembly under the Uri Party, so he probably didn't have a direct connection with you when he first entered politics.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: That is correct. Representative Jung Chung-rae was very bold back then.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: Yes, he was.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: He came to Donggyo-dong and asked, "Mr. President, who did you vote for? Did you vote for me?"

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: In his constituency.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: Yes, in his constituency. I remember him talking like that so vividly.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: After he got elected? During the 17th National Assembly.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: Naturally, President Kim Dae-jung and the First Lady voted for the Democratic Party's Jung Chung-rae. What other freshman lawmaker would have been bold enough to ask that? He said that to the great DJ.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: Former leader Jung Chung-rae was probably in his early 40s back then.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: Yes.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: To former President Kim Dae-jung, who had returned after finishing his presidential term. I see. When former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok (candidate Kim Min-seok) was recruited into the Democratic Party in his late 20s, didn't you run together back then? In 1992.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: I was later. Although I am much older, candidate Kim Min-seok is my senior. President Kim Dae-jung picked up candidate Kim Min-seok when he was 32 and made him a lawmaker.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: Right.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: And since he served as the Chief of Staff to the Party President, we built a close relationship while working together.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: He virtually took the practical responsibility for founding the Millennium Democratic Party.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: Yes.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: And handled the practical responsibilities.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: But currently, some in our Democratic Party are asking, "What did you do on the day of the December 3 martial law?" It was awkward for me to ask, and it was quite ambiguous. Even when I went to Gwangju and had a meeting over a meal with about 20 representatives of civic groups, they also said, "That is suspicious. We cannot trust Kim Min-seok."

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: So you are saying that the attack from former leader Jung Chung-rae's side is reaching the party members to some extent.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: They already knew about it before the attack. That is why it was sensitive. But since Kim Eo-jun's News Factory clarified it, it turned out well. So, regarding the HudanHyeop (Committee for Rapid Launch of Unified Candidate) issue raised by former leader Jung Chung-rae's side—I was in the Blue House at the time, so I know it well.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: You know it well.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: President Kim Dae-jung absolutely forbade it. However, isn't it a fact that some lawmakers, including Representative Kim Min-seok, supported Representative Chung Mong-joon out of the belief that we must put forward a candidate who can win to achieve a transfer of power? The whole world knows it. On this issue, even if candidate Kim Min-seok says, "Honestly, this is what I did," and even if it becomes a flaw, since candidate Kim Min-seok intends to run for the presidency, getting hit now and receiving a preemptive vaccine is politically fine. In any case, in Honam, people historically did not vote based on the economy, but on politics. They chose democracy over development. But regarding the evaluation of President Lee Jae-myung this time, since democracy, politics, development, and semiconductors are coming in heavily, we are moving forward with two keywords: economy. And who is the person who can make this most successful? They are pointing to Kim Min-seok. That is why I say former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok (candidate Kim Min-seok) is overwhelmingly leading. However, candidate Jung Chung-rae cannot be ignored, and former leader Song Young-gil is liked by Gwangju civic groups, academia, and women's groups, so the approval ratings came out in that order for the three. But candidate Jung Chung-rae saying today, "If I become party leader, I won't think about running for president," was a shock. It creates a situation where candidate Kim Min-seok will obviously face attacks like, "He is doing that just to become president. It has only been two years, and with three or four years left until the election, he is already trying to become president. He has presidential disease." He is leaving after creating the grounds for such attacks.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: Candidate Kim Min-seok was one minute late to the National Assembly voting site because he fell asleep after taking cold medicine on the day of the emergency martial law. But is that explanation clearly accepted, or is there still something unexplained in terms of the timeline? Looking at social media, there are still parts that don't make sense regarding the timeline. It is said that he asked Baek Tae-ung, the Ambassador to the OECD, to write an English text explaining the injustice of the martial law, but when exactly was that? What time that night did he do it? Ambassador Baek Tae-ung seems to have posted that text and then deleted it, so why did he delete it? Such posts are also circulating on social media.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: From what I see, everything, including him running in a hurry, has been proven. What more do they want? When they asked him to show the cold medicine, he showed it. They shouldn't do that. We are family, we can trust each other, so why not trust him?

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: They shouldn't do that.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: Right. It has been sufficiently explained. So, even if candidate Kim Min-seok clearly clears up the HudanHyeop issue and explains it, attacks will still come even if he becomes a presidential candidate. But since he would have already received the preemptive vaccine, the public might say, "Didn't he already come out and explain everything back then?" So, I am saying he should take the hits now and get whatever preemptive vaccine he needs to get.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: I see. We will have to keep inviting you, Representative Park, regularly to hear if things turn out exactly as you say during the national convention process.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: It shouldn't turn out exactly as I say so that I can come on the show more often.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: You also spoke about supplementary investigative powers on SBS Radio this morning (July 13). Even within the Democratic Party, Representative Hong Ki-won says, "We must not completely abolish supplementary investigative powers; the public will suffer." However, you expressed your conviction that "it must be completely abolished, and we cannot return to Yoon Suk-yeol's prosecution." How can this be institutionally supplemented?

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: Representative Han Dong-hoon and Representative Hong Ki-won both misunderstood my remark, "Should we not make soy sauce because we are afraid of maggots?" So, I thought they should study Korean a bit better. I believe that the reformed Yoon Suk-yeol prosecution, the Lee Jae-myung prosecution...

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: Right.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: Under no circumstances should we return to Yoon Suk-yeol's politicized prosecution. In particular, the claim of unconstitutionality raised by Lee Seok-yeon, Chairman of the National Integration Committee, seems wrong even to me. This is because there is nothing in the Constitution stating that the prosecution has investigative powers. It only states they have the right to request warrants.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: The right to request warrants.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: And since it is shown that even past constitutions did not have such a provision, if prosecutors want to investigate, they can go to the Serious Crime Investigation Agency and investigate. So, if they keep bringing up what the police are currently doing wrong and what the public is concerned about, it just gives them an excuse. But didn't the prosecution also make many mistakes in the past? Therefore, my belief that we must move toward a reformed Lee Jae-myung prosecution remains unchanged. However, if some are currently calling for deliberation on issues like child crimes or sex crimes like this one, let's discuss it again.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: What do you mean by "let's discuss it"?

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: Well, since we cannot overlook such issues, we can just discuss how to handle these matters with the prosecution. It is not decided yet.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: I was wondering if you are leaving some room.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: I understand that issue.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: It is similar to what the President said. Only in very exceptional cases.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: Right.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: Regarding supplementary investigative powers.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: That is why, since the President also told the Legislation and Judiciary Committee to deliberate and brought up exceptional cases, my statement at the committee was exactly that. I said we should tightly incorporate these issues into the law or enforcement decrees, so in that regard, there is not much difference between Representative Hong Ki-won and me. That is what I think.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: To make this clear, you said complete abolition is the answer.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: Complete abolition is the answer, but those issues are currently being exposed to the public because of the Jang Yun-gi incident. So, for crimes against humanity, truly heinous crimes, let's deliberate a bit more.

▷ [Anchor] Ju Yeong-jin: I see. This was an interview with Representative Park Ji-won of the Democratic Party. We will invite you again next time to ask how the national convention is progressing and how the issue of supplementary investigative powers is unfolding. Thank you for speaking with us today.

▶ [Interview] Representative Park Ji-won: Thank you.

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※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.