Intense Questioning of Yoon Jae-sun's Qualifications at the National Assembly Steering Committee
Controversy Expected to Resurface Due to Clarifying Remarks
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] At the plenary meeting of the National Assembly Steering Committee held on the 17th, lawmakers focused their questions on Yoon Jae-soon, the Chief Secretary to the General Affairs Secretary, who is under suspicion of sexual misconduct. Before responding, Secretary Yoon expressed an apology, but during the explanation of the situation at the time, he made remarks acknowledging inappropriate contact, which is expected to spark controversy.
Before answering questions at the meeting, Secretary Yoon, who attended the session, said regarding the controversy surrounding him, "If anyone felt uncomfortable, I believe it is only right that I apologize (to the public)," and added, "I will apologize first."
In response to People Power Party lawmaker Park Hyung-soo's question, "Are there any parts of the article's content and circumstances that differ from the facts?" he replied, "I was never investigated (at that time)," and "There are indeed some discrepancies in the sequence of facts." However, he added, "I have said that if I explain everything in detail, it could spark another controversy, so I thought it was appropriate not to provide such explanations."
Democratic Party lawmaker Ko Min-jung mentioned through a PPT screen that Secretary Yoon received a 'warning' disciplinary action in 2012 while working at the prosecution for remarks such as "If you want to do a love shot, take off your clothes," and "Are you wearing underwear?" In response, Kim Dae-gi, Chief Secretary to the President, said both remarks were "inappropriate."
When lawmaker Ko asked what level of disciplinary action he thought was appropriate for those remarks, Chief Secretary Kim said, "When disciplining someone, you cannot base it on just one line like that," and added, "You have to look at the situation and then judge (the level)."
To the question, "Do you think the warning disciplinary action was appropriate?" he answered, "Yes," and added, "If it had happened."
In this process, Secretary Yoon practically admitted that there was inappropriate contact. In response to People Power Party lawmaker Yang Geum-hee's question, "Please clearly explain the facts and state your position," Secretary Yoon said, "At that time, I actually received an encouragement bonus from my superiors for working hard. Coincidentally, it was my birthday," and added, "There were about ten staff members. I experienced what is called a 'birthday punch' for the first time."
He continued, "A white dress shirt was smeared with black chocolate cake all over my face. Then someone asked, 'What should we do for your birthday?' I got angry and said, 'Give me a kiss,' which is true," and added, "So I kissed on the cheek and left..."
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