Kim Moo-sung: "I Never Said to Arrest Park Geun-hye... I Want to Reconcile"

"Impeachment Process Was to Ask the People"
"At the Time, Pro-Park Suggested Resignation... Which Is More Right?"

Kim Moo-sung, former leader of the Saenuri Party (predecessor of the People Power Party) who declared his candidacy for Busan Jung and Yeongdo districts in the general election, said regarding the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, "I personally feel really distressed that I advocated for the impeachment with my own hands, which led to such a result," adding, "How desperate must I have been to declare that I would not run in the presidential election?"

On the 18th, Kim appeared on BBS Radio's 'Jeon Young-shin's Morning Journal' and said, "I devoted everything I had and worked harder for Park Geun-hye than for my own life, striving to make her president, but now we have a bad relationship for various reasons," and began, "At that time, President Park Geun-hye's choice was only between resignation or proceeding with the impeachment process."

Former lawmaker Kim Moo-sung, who served as the leader of the Saenuri Party, the predecessor of the People Power Party, declared his candidacy for the 22nd general election at the Busan City Council on the 15th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

He explained, "I hold the principle that the country must be operated according to the constitution, and at that time, the state affairs were paralyzed and the president's governing power was not functioning at all," adding, "In such a case, the constitution stipulates that the impeachment procedure should be followed." He continued, "At that time, pro-Park (pro-Park Geun-hye) core members loyal to President Park gathered and proposed her resignation," and questioned, "'Is it right to say, 'Please resign because it is impossible to manage the situation,' or is it right to say, 'Let's proceed with the impeachment process and ask the people once again'?"

Kim said, "I feel sorry on a human level for the hardships President Park endured," but added, "I have no intention of apologizing for advocating the impeachment. That is my philosophy."

He said, "Even if the National Assembly decides on impeachment, it must go through the Constitutional Court for one more review," adding, "There was an opportunity for change, so I advocated for that, but things turned out this way." He also said, "I am one of the people who experienced President Park the most, and she is definitely not a corrupt person; she is someone with a kind of obsession with cleanliness," and added, "Even now, although I advocated for impeachment, I have never insisted that President Park be arrested. That would be excessive."

The day before, Kim said in a radio interview, "I want to reconcile with former President Park, but it is really difficult to make such a proposal hastily." During his tenure as party leader in 2016, Kim advocated for the impeachment of President Park. In November of the same year, he declared that he would not run in the presidential election, saying, "As someone who played a part in the launch of the Park Geun-hye government and as the immediate former leader of the Saenuri Party, I deeply feel responsible for the current national turmoil."