In relation to President Yoon Seok-yeol’s cabinet reshuffle of three ministries, including the Ministry of National Defense, a war of nerves is intensifying between the ruling and opposition parties over the suitability of ministerial candidates.
In particular, the Democratic Party is taking issue with the controversy over past far-right comments by Shin Won-sik, the candidate for Minister of National Defense, and the People Power Party has taken cover, saying it is a security expert.
This is reporter Seong-ho Cho’s report.
[Reporter]
This is a statement made by Shin Won-sik, candidate for Minister of National Defense, while attending the Taegeukgi rally held in Busan four years ago.
They pour out harsh words toward former President Moon Jae-in, calling the 2016 candlelight vigil a treason.
[Shin Won-sik / Candidate for Minister of National Defense (September 2019): 2016 candlelight, treason! The 2019 Taegeukgi is the constitution that establishes the Republic of Korea. It is only a matter of time before Moon Jae-in ○○○ wins. If you don’t come down (we’ll attack), let’s go, let’s go!]
Candidate Shin also appeared on a YouTube broadcast around the same time and evaluated the May 16 and December 12 coups like this.
[Shin Won-sik / Candidate for Minister of National Defense (September 2019): Spring is happening in Seoul, so I think I came out at that time (December 12) to save the country. Something like May 16 is a coup in political and legal terms, but it is a revolution in social, economic, and philosophical terms because we have changed from an agricultural society to an industrialized society.] Based on these remarks, the Democratic Party claims that the nomination of a new candidate is regressive
. I was cornered.
It was criticized as an emergency transfusion of hardliners who would be at the forefront of an ideological war, a ‘don’t ask, cabinet reshuffle’ that did not take public opinion into consideration.
They urged the withdrawal of the appointment, saying it would undermine the military’s political neutrality and weaken its power.
[Park Gwang-on / Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea: There is great public anger over whether it is the revival of Chun Doo-hwan’s forces or the revival of Hanahoe. I would like to ask whether President Yoon Seok-yeol agrees with this view of history.]
The People Power Party provided cover to candidate Shin, praising him as the best defense expert.
He emphasized that the party made the suggestion directly in a situation where the threat of North Korean nuclear missiles is increasing and North Korea and Russia are showing close movement.
The Democratic Party, which has been pushing for the impeachment of Minister Lee Jong-seop in relation to suspicions of external pressure on the investigation of the메이저사이트 Marine Corporal Chae case, was criticized for opposing candidate Shin for the purpose of political strife.
[Jae-ok Yoon / People Power Party Floor Leader: They were just trying to spread political strife by impeaching the Minister of National Defense, but all I can feel is the (Democratic Party’s) bad political intention, which is unfortunate because they missed the opportunity.] Candidate Shin responded to the controversy over his past remarks surrounding the coup and impeachment
. He took a step back, saying he supported the judicial judgment and the government’s official position.
[Shin Won-sik / Candidate for Minister of National Defense: I think a coup should never happen, cannot happen, and is impossible in the reality of the Republic of Korea. Regarding that case, I 100% support the Supreme Court’s final ruling and the government’s official position.] He
said he would fully explain the remarks criticizing former President Moon at the confirmation hearing and even before.
The opposition party is protesting against the nomination of Yu In-chon, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, saying it is the same as the Lee Myung-bak administration, and the nomination of Kim Haeng, the candidate for Minister of Gender Equality and Family, saying it is a cabinet reshuffle unbefitting the reform of government affairs, including responsibility for the jamboree debacle.
The war between the ruling and opposition parties appears to be heating up ahead of the confirmation hearing.