"The Birth of the Yoon Administration, My Greatest Responsibility"
"Cho Kuk's Family Devastated... I Feel Infinitely Sorry"
"For the Democratic Party to Win, It Must Embrace Inclusiveness and Expansion"
Former President Moon Jae-in stated, "I have regretted time and again appointing Prosecutor Yoon Seok-yeol as Prosecutor General during my tenure."
In an interview with Hankyoreh newspaper on the 10th, former President Moon said regarding his 2019 nomination of Yoon Seok-yeol, then head of the Central District Prosecutors' Office, as a candidate for Prosecutor General, "I regret it because it was the very event that led to the birth of President Yoon Seok-yeol." This is the first time former President Moon has given an interview to the media since leaving office.
Former President Moon recalled, "At the time, I, along with Chief Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs Cho Kuk and the Prosecutor General Candidate Recommendation Committee, narrowed down the candidates to four, and Chief Secretary Cho Kuk interviewed each of the four candidates one by one. Among them, only candidate Yoon Seok-yeol expressed support for prosecutorial reform, which was the most important issue, while the other three all opposed it."
He added, "Candidate Yoon Seok-yeol may have been somewhat uncomfortable in communication, but his will for prosecutorial reform was positive. Looking back now, perhaps it would have been more reasonable to choose someone who communicated well with Chief Secretary Cho Kuk and had a good relationship with him.
He continued, "Former Representative Cho Kuk of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party and his family were devastated because candidate Yoon was chosen. I feel infinitely sorry for former Representative Cho, who is like a most painful finger to me."
He also said, "After President Yoon was elected, I felt a great sense of self-reproach for handing over power to such people," adding, "Moreover, with the recent martial law and impeachment incidents, I felt so apologetic to the people that I could not sleep at night."
※ Click the video to see more details
He then said, "It is the Democratic Party's historic duty to definitely regain power in the presidential election," and added, "For the Democratic Party to win, it must be more inclusive and expansive. Constantly criticizing competition as division and pushing it away only makes the Democratic Party narrower."
Regarding Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, he said, "Currently, there is no competitor to Leader Lee within the Democratic Party. All the more reason to expand. I told Leader Lee this during the Lunar New Year holidays when he visited, and he agrees with me."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
