Yongjin Park Criticizes People Power Party's Attack on 'Civilian Defense Minister': "Even Syngman Rhee Had One, This Is Habitual Criticism"

"Lee Aims to Strengthen Civilian Control of the Military...
It's About Protecting Democracy"
"People Power Party Criticizes While Ignoring Historical Facts"

Yongjin Park, Chair of the People Living Together National Unity Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea, sharply criticized the People Power Party for denouncing presidential candidate Lee Jaemyung's call for "civilian control of the military," saying they are "habitually prone to criticism."

On May 27, Park wrote on Facebook, "The appointment of a civilian as Minister of National Defense has been discussed as a measure for the civilianization of the military since the Roh Moo-hyun administration," and added, "Candidate Lee's proposal to appoint a civilian Minister of National Defense is intended to strengthen civilian control over the military and uphold the fundamentals of democracy."

Yongjin Park, Chair of the People Living Together National Unity Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea.

He continued, "Why do you think such a statement was made? It is because there was the 12·3 Emergency Martial Law even in these democratic times," and argued, "The People Power Party's criticism of this as 'Season 2 of appointing non-lawyers as Supreme Court Justices' stems from ignorance of history and a misunderstanding of democracy."

Park also pointed out that, in reference to People Power Party presidential candidate Kim Moonsoo's remarks during a campaign the previous day, where he claimed that it was former President Syngman Rhee and the influence of Christianity that protected the Republic of Korea, "The sixth Minister of National Defense, Kim Yongwoo, who was appointed by the president before Syngman Rhee, was a pure civilian, not a military officer."

He further stated that candidate Kim and the People Power Party need to properly understand Syngman Rhee, saying, "The People Power Party is criticizing candidate Lee's proposal while ignoring these historical facts. It seems they have developed a habit of criticizing anything proposed by candidate Lee without consideration."

Park emphasized that candidate Lee and the Democratic Party will work to strengthen civilian control over the military and realize the values of democracy. He added, "A party that cannot even break ties with the main culprits of the martial law rebellion and has appointed Yoon Sanghyun, a close associate of Yoon Sukyeol, as a joint election committee chair may not feel it, but a nation that forgets its history has no future, and a party that forgets its history will never achieve victory."

The previous day, candidate Lee, in reference to his diplomatic and security pledges that included strengthening civilian control over the military, stated, "Civilian control of the military is something all advanced countries do," and added, "While appointing a military officer as Minister of National Defense has been the conventional method, I believe it is appropriate for the Minister of National Defense to come from the civilian sector as well."