Recently, Park Yong-jin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who visited former President Moon Jae-in's residence in Pyeongsan, raised his voice, saying, "I cannot agree with summoning former President Moon's messages as a source of intra-party conflict and interpreting them this way and that."
On the 20th, Park said on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' "We should just listen to his words or messages as mere encouragement and advice and leave it at that."
After visiting the Pyeongsan residence on the 17th, Park posted on his social media, "Former President Moon also encouraged that if the Democratic Party changes a little, makes some decisions, and shows unity centered around that, the party will gain public trust in next year's general election." On the same day, former National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won appeared on YTN radio and conveyed a message from former President Moon that "there is no alternative other than Representative Lee Jae-myung," which has a somewhat different nuance.
As interpretations of former President Moon's remarks diverged among factions within the party, Park criticized this. He said, "Basically, I find it hard to agree with my posts on Facebook being summoned as material for intra-party conflict issues within the Democratic Party," adding, "'Is this how you view Representative Lee's position or that way?' Interpretations are up to one's own mind, but I hope such things do not happen."
He cautioned against linking former President Moon's words to Representative Lee's position. Park said, "I think it would be inappropriate for the former president to say 'Democratic Party, win' as a former president," adding, "The Democratic Party needs to change a bit, and for that, some decisions must be made. If we do that and unite and harmonize, how can we win the election? That is a very natural statement."
Regarding the message from former President Moon conveyed by former National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won, Park said, "I think it is inappropriate to keep using a former president as a topic for intra-party issues," adding, "(Regarding the call to unite around Representative Lee) I did not ask about it, nor did I talk about Representative Lee."
Meanwhile, controversy arose recently when Lee In-gyu, former head of the Central Investigation Department of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the investigation chief for former President Roh Moo-hyun, claimed in his memoir that "the bribery allegations against former President Roh are true, and former President Moon was incompetent as his lawyer." Park also commented on this, saying, "(I) did not ask former President Moon about it, nor does he have anything to say."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
