Yoo Seung-min: "Did I Impeach Park Geun-hye Alone... At That Time, There Was at Least Conscience"

"Crimes Committed by Yoon Cannot Be Compared to Park"
"Conservative Reconstruction Needed... Frustrating to See Further Damage"
"Lee Jae-myung, a Candidate with Many Flaws and Weaknesses"

Former People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Seung-min recalled the time of former President Park Geun-hye's impeachment and expressed dissatisfaction with being labeled a 'traitor.'

On the 2nd, Yoo appeared on YTN Radio's 'News Fighting' and mentioned the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye. Host Kim Woo-sung asked him, "A phrase from your 2017 April book 'Why Do I Do Politics?' is resurfacing in the current political climate. One representative term is 'traitor,' used against figures like lawmaker Kim Sang-wook who supported the impeachment. What do you think about that?" Yoo responded, "It's already a story from 10 years ago, but it seems as if I alone carried out the impeachment. The current party leadership all supported the impeachment back then," recalling, "Nearly half of the lawmakers supported the impeachment. At that time, there was at least some conscience."

He continued, "President Park also showed an attitude of 'I will comply with the law.' But now, the crimes committed are far more serious than those of President Park," asserting, "The entire nation witnessed the constitutional destruction acts throughout the night. Yet, the party line opposes it, the president consistently resists, and uses protesters as a shield. Compared to eight years ago, this is actually a regression." He added, "In my view, the party is currently in a much more abnormal and serious state. I sincerely hope that even now, the party will decisively sever ties with the president and seek a new path for conservatism through sincere reflection and apology. But instead of rebuilding, they are only causing more damage, which is truly frustrating."

Former People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Seung-min. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo

Additionally, Yoo mentioned Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. He said, "Lee is a person with significant judicial risks," and pointed out, "He is currently ruling the Democratic Party as a one-man regime, but in some ways, Lee is the candidate with the most flaws and weaknesses among the Democratic candidates. Many centrist voters worry, 'Having gone through President Yoon, we are already tired; do we have to endure another president like that?'" He further emphasized, "If we properly apologize for this situation and show new movements, we can confidently compete. But if we follow the path of ruin like President Yoon, we will easily hand over power to the Democratic Party."