Park Ji-won, Former NIS Director
"Public Supports Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor"
"Yoon-Han Conflict, Still a Spark... In Dormant State"
As the controversy over the resignation demand for Han Dong-hoon, the Emergency Response Committee Chairman, which escalated into an extreme confrontation between the ruling party and the government, has entered a lull, various opinions are emerging inside and outside the party regarding the root cause of the conflict, the so-called ‘Kim Geon-hee risk’ (luxury handbag receipt suspicion controversy). Following the statement by Kim Woong, a member of the People Power Party, who targeted Mrs. Kim by saying, “She should go to the presidential residence or go abroad,” on the previous day, on the 25th, Assemblyman Ahn Cheol-soo said, “A second secretariat should be established.” Former National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won predicted a second round, calling it “like peeing on an unthawed spot.”
Former NIS Director Park Ji-won appeared on ‘CBS Kim Hyun-jung’s News Show’ that day and said about the clash between President Yoon Seok-yeol and Emergency Committee Chairman Han Dong-hoon, “The fire has not been extinguished but is dormant.” He viewed that “The president’s most important instruction is not to touch Kim Geon-hee, but public sentiment and the Democratic Party are touching Kim Geon-hee.”
Prefacing his remarks as personal opinion, former Director Park said, “I think President Yoon Seok-yeol gave at least two roles or orders when appointing Han Dong-hoon as the Emergency Committee Chairman,” adding, “One is not to even mention a special prosecutor for Kim Geon-hee, and the other is to guarantee the nominations of those from the prosecution faction.” He said, “If Chairman Han obeys these two orders, the general election will be lost, it will violate public sentiment, and Han Dong-hoon’s future will be gone.” He added, “Therefore, he tried to stoke the fire by talking about a public apology together with Professor Lee Soo-jung and Emergency Committee member Kim Kyung-yul, but Mrs. Kim Geon-hee is not someone who would forgive that.”
Former Director Park predicted another power clash because the political goals of Chairman Han and President Yoon collide. He elaborated, “Chairman Han hastily traveled nationwide saying ‘I am also the sun,’ but there cannot be two suns.”
Assemblyman Ahn Cheol-soo also appeared on ‘YTN News King with Park Ji-hoon’ that day and said regarding the Kim Geon-hee risk, “A second secretariat should be established, and a special inspector as stipulated by law should be appointed.” Ahn said, “If the system is properly set up, the public can feel reassured that Yongsan will be managed systematically in the future.” He also reiterated the position that an apology should be made regarding the luxury handbag receipt controversy. He said, “Who will make a statement, in what form, and with what content, I think the Presidential Office will make an appropriate judgment and do it,” adding, “A statement should be made in a way that can reach the hearts of the people regarding the controversy over Mrs. Kim Geon-hee.”
Ahn especially said, “It is an illegal hidden camera operation, but the handbag issue requires an explanation,” adding, “If legal procedures are necessary for the hidden camera, they should be followed, but separately, a statement should be made regarding the handbag issue.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
