"Refine Statements When Becoming Minister"
"Park Geun-hye Impeachment Will Be Reassessed"
Kim Moon-soo, the nominee for Minister of Employment and Labor, explained his description of the girl group Girls' Generation as "jjukjjukbbangbbang" by saying he intended to emphasize their role as leaders of the Korean Wave.
Ahead of the National Assembly confirmation hearing, Kim clarified the controversies in his written responses submitted to the National Assembly on the 26th.
He described the girl group Girls' Generation as "jjukjjukbbangbbang" during a lecture at the Centennial Hall of Modern Legal Education at Seoul National University on November 2, 2010. On June 22, 2011, at a CEO breakfast meeting hosted by the Korea Standards Association, he also said, "What is Chunhyangjeon? It’s a story about Byeon Satto having sex with Chunhyang." Regarding this, he stated, "The mention of Byeon Satto was intended to criticize corrupt officials, and the reference to Girls' Generation was meant to emphasize their role as leaders of the Korean Wave." He added, "I regret using inappropriate expressions that were different from my intentions during the remarks, and if appointed as minister, I will strive to use refined language."
Regarding his harsh remarks at a past right-wing rally, where he said, "Moon Jae-in is a communist! We should catch the parasite and throw it into this storage box," he wrote, "These were statements made during public rallies in my activist days, and I regret making overly provocative remarks because I believed that South Korea’s liberal democracy was in crisis."
When asked about the founding date of the Republic of Korea, he answered, "As stated in the preamble of the Constitution, the Republic of Korea inherited the legal legitimacy of the Provisional Government, and after liberation in 1945, elected members of the Constituent National Assembly by nationwide vote on May 10, 1948, which drafted the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, and declared the establishment of the government on August 15, 1948." This logic, similar to the argument for a Founding Day, is also expected to spark considerable controversy.
Kim described Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon of Sarang Jeil Church and the Liberty Unification Party, founded in 2020, as "a party that pursues principled liberal democracy and free market economy," and said, "I think their political orientation is not different from that of the People Power Party."
Regarding the question, "Do you think the Constitutional Court's impeachment decision on former President Park was wrong?" he said, "I acknowledge the Constitutional Court's decision," but added, "I believe it will be historically re-evaluated." Kim has made statements denying the impeachment of former President Park. In February, he posted on Facebook that former President Park was "impeached without guilt," but later deleted the post.
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