Park Hong-geun: "President Yoon's remarks sounded like something the Japanese Prime Minister said"

'Japan Should Not Have to Kneel,' Says President Yoon in Interview Criticized
"We Must No Longer Embarrass Our People"

Park Hong-geun, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, harshly criticized President Yoon Suk-yeol's foreign media interview on the 25th, saying, "He revealed a very irresponsible and ahistorical perception that could easily be mistaken for the words of the Japanese Prime Minister rather than the President of the Republic of Korea."

Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 25th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

At the party floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly that morning, Floor Leader Park said, "Regarding criticism of the forced labor resolution, President Yoon stated in an interview, 'It is unacceptable for Japan to have to kneel because of something that happened 100 years ago.'"

Earlier, in an interview with The Washington Post, President Yoon said, "Europe has experienced several wars over the past 100 years but found ways for the warring parties to cooperate for the future," adding, "I cannot accept the idea that there are things that can never be done because of events that happened 100 years ago, or that Japan must kneel because of history from 100 years ago."

Floor Leader Park pointed out, "The majority of the people call it humiliating diplomacy, but the president alone claims he 'did his best,'" and added, "I hope President Yoon will no longer embarrass our people."

He also criticized, "When he was a candidate, he promised, locking fingers with Grandmother Lee Yong-soo, that he would definitely bring about an apology from Japan regarding the comfort women issue. Now, not only does he seem unaware of the painful history of brutal invasion by Japanese imperialism in the past, but is he now begging Japan, which shows neither true reflection nor remorse for the wrongs committed against our people 100 years ago, to never kneel?"

Furthermore, he said, "The history of Europe that President Yoon referenced is itself a distortion and omission," and criticized, "Former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt knelt before the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising memorial in Poland and apologized for the Nazi massacre of Jews, which itself became history. Does he truly not know that today’s European community exists on that foundation?"

Floor Leader Park emphasized, "With such incompetent and humiliating diplomacy, it is impossible to elevate Korea-Japan relations to partners of peace and prosperity," and stressed, "We cannot buy our future by whitewashing the shameful past and not reflecting on Japan, which refuses to acknowledge its history."