[Opinion] You Must Keep Beating Until They Truly Regret It

Choi Joon-sun, Honorary Professor at Sungkyunkwan University School of Law

At the end of March, the leader of the Democratic Party said, "The government and ruling party bear great responsibility for not fully addressing housing issues. We feel infinite responsibility and apologize." The floor leader also said, "We failed to properly understand the feelings of the younger generation. Whatever the cause, the Democratic Party was lacking." Professor Seo-min wrote about this, "Elections are indeed good... At least we could receive a soulless apology from this administration, which was particularly stingy with apologies." However, Professor Seo, who was pleased to receive a 'soulless apology,' is probably not a 'foolishly honest person.' Presumably, he did not truly forgive.

The term 'foolishly honest person' appears in a novel written by Natsume Soseki 115 years ago in 1906. In the novel, a 24-year-old middle school math teacher who had been appointed for only 20 days was teased by dormitory students. The principal's punishment for the students was a one-week ban on going out and an apology to the teacher. Soseki's thoughts were as follows.

"However, this level of apology was a big misconception. The students' apology was not sincere remorse. They merely bowed their heads formally under the principal's orders. Like cunning merchants who bow their heads but continue their deceitful acts, the students also apologized but would never stop their mischief. Upon reflection, most people in the world might be like these students. Those who seriously accept apologies and forgive are 'foolishly honest people.' Since the apologies are fake, the forgiveness is also fake. If one truly wants to be forgiven, they must be beaten until they sincerely regret."

Soseki's observation aligns with that of Professor Cho-guk about 110 years later. He wrote, "Let me share a joke I heard somewhere. 'When a fly rubs its front legs, don't mistake it for an apology.' To add to that, 'When a fly rubs its front legs, it is preparing to suck something, and we should be hitting it.' Bang~~."

After the April 7 by-election defeat, the acting leader of the Democratic Party said, "The Democratic Party has decided to maintain the major policy directions, including real estate, in broad terms." The newly elected floor leader said, "If I have to choose between cooperation and reform, I will choose reform," adding, "We must not stop the wheels of reform here. If we don't reform now, when will we?" Have they still not achieved the purge of deep-rooted evils and reform that has continued for four years?

The Deputy Prime Minister for Economy, who plans to raise civil servants' salaries by 0.9% to boost morale, does he have the will to remove the punitive comprehensive real estate tax bomb that even vilifies single-homeowners and to consider institutional measures to transparently assess official land prices? After the April 16 cabinet reshuffle, the presidential chief of staff said, "This reshuffle was carried out to stably complete the national tasks that the government has been focusing on." According to a poll by a public opinion research firm, 80% of respondents said the reason for the Democratic Party's defeat was "because the ruling party did wrong." Yet, the party, government, and Blue House all say they will just continue on their path.

Only those who sincerely ask for forgiveness will truly be forgiven. If you only pretend to ask for forgiveness, you must be beaten until you sincerely regret.

[Choi Jun-seon, Honorary Professor, School of Law, Sungkyunkwan University]