Former President Moon Jae-in expressed his position on the disruption of the World Scout Jamboree (hereafter Jamboree) through social networking services (SNS), and Jeon Hae-cheol, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, expressed regret, saying, "He spoke well," and that if the government had responded properly six months ago, this outcome would not have occurred.
On the 14th, Jeon said on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' "We had high expectations for the Jamboree from the time we hosted it, and the preparation process took a very long time, about five or six years. It is truly regrettable and embarrassing that it could not be successfully managed, and I believe former President Moon expressed such feelings."
On the 25th, at the Environment and Labor Committee plenary meeting held in the National Assembly, Im Ija, the floor leader of the People Power Party, and Kim Youngjin, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, are conversing with Chairman Jeon Haecheol. Photo by Kim Hyunmin kimhyun81@
Former President Moon said on SNS the day before, "We lost a lot because of the Saemangeum Jamboree," adding, "the shame has become the people's burden." This appears to be in response to the government's claim of 'previous administration's responsibility' for the Jamboree disruption.
Jeon said, "What I find regrettable is that at least from February this year, six months ago, when the government formed a joint preparation committee system with full support and readiness, if they had responded properly from then, this outcome would not have occurred," adding, "Even in the organizing committee meetings in May and June, problems were continuously raised."
He continued, "In that regard, many involved parties should sincerely reflect and strive to prevent recurrence of such issues in the future. However, especially since February, despite the government establishing a full support system, the fact that such results were not prevented and bad outcomes occurred requires cold reflection and introspection."
Regarding the ruling party and government's 'previous administration responsibility' argument, he said, "First of all, everyone should reflect on the fact that the past five or six years were not adequately managed," but added, "However, the Yoon Seok-youl administration has been in office for one year and three months. Even after one year and three months, blaming all problems on the previous administration is not right."
He added, "If they wanted to blame the previous administration, then when they inspected in February this year or when they took over the government in May last year, they should have said the previous administration did poorly. That would have been persuasive," adding, "But after the government was inaugurated last year and established its system in February this year, failing to take necessary measures and then blaming the previous administration only after bad results emerged is not appropriate behavior or attitude for those running the government."
Regarding political speculation about what role former President Moon might play for the Democratic Party in next year's general election, he said, "Former President Moon has repeatedly said that after his retirement, he would return to being a private citizen and stay away from politics, which he had not been able to do before, and he is living by that practice," adding, "In that sense, I believe there is absolutely no possibility that he will be involved in frontline politics or political affairs."
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