[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] On the 21st, Yoon Hee-sook, a member of the People Power Party, criticized the government's handling of COVID-19 vaccines, saying, "How easy do you think the people are to tolerate this?"
In a post on her Facebook that day, Rep. Yoon said, "The Prime Minister, who confidently claimed we would be the number one country to end COVID-19, disappeared ahead of the government questioning session. No one has clarified what the misjudgments were or what has been improved, so the people left neglected in 'blind' quarantine measures are only frustrated."
She added, "I resent the government for completely ignoring experts' opinions that 'since it is impossible to know in advance which vaccine will be effective, we must secure many types,' and dragging the situation this far," but also said, "Our people are currently 'enduring unconditionally.' It is important to do well from now on, so let's leave the criticisms for later."
She continued, "However, the government's attitude tramples on the superhuman patience of the people," and pointed out, "The only duty to the patient people and the way to restore trust and illuminate hope in the COVID tunnel is to clearly state what was different from expectations, where the errors occurred, what errors in prediction and response were identified and corrected, and what is expected going forward."
Earlier, former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun rebutted opposition claims that "vaccine procurement was delayed" at the National Assembly plenary session in January, saying, "The government has no particular responsibility."
At that time, former PM Chung told the opposition, "What matters is when we can get out of COVID-19, not when the vaccination started."
Regarding this, Rep. Yoon said, "There was a government questioning session yesterday. The Prime Minister should have apologized for pushing the people into suffering with such an absurd judgment, and then explained to the people whether the expert opinions he heard were biased, whether it was an internal decision-making problem, and how the issues were improved."
She added, "However, he disappeared preparing for the presidential election without even appointing a successor," and criticized, "The acting authority who stepped in instead was not even familiar with the basic facts about the vaccine situation."
Finally, she said, "How easy do you think the people are? The person who repeatedly claimed on broadcasts that there was no need to secure vaccines was appointed as the Blue House quarantine chief, and the Prime Minister, who boasted confidently while pushing those worried about vaccines into political strife, disappeared, perhaps worried about his damaged image under questioning," and questioned, "How can the people believe that a government that throws away even minimal responsibility like a discarded object will do things properly in the future?"
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