Published : Feb. 10, 2022 - 16:12
Kim Hye-kyung, the wife of presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party, makes an apology during a press conference held at the National Assembly, Wednesday. (Joint Press Corps)
Attacks against the ruling Democratic Party of Korea‘s presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung’s wife have continued despite Wednesday’s apology, with opposition parties contending she failed to address the key points of the controversy.
Kim Hye-kyung, the wife of Lee, apologized at a press conference, saying she failed to draw distinctions between public and private life in reference to her alleged abuses of power while her husband previously served as the governor of Gyeonggi Province.
Kim’s apology was followed by another from Lee the following day, saying, “I want to say it is my shortcoming and negligence as a husband and as a public official. I offer my consolation to the person who was hurt.”
Despite the apologies made by Kim and Lee, other political parties are continuing to condemn Kim in a similar manner to how the Democratic Party of Korea concentrated fire on Kim Kun-hee, wife of People Power Party’s presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, for the allegations of falsifying her resumes.
“It was an eight-minute apology show without a subject or object,” Rep. Kwon Young-se from the People Power Party election committee said on Thursday. “It was a strange apology that failed to address who did what wrong.”
“The authorities should look into the allegations with a quick and thorough investigation, rather than wait for the self-audit by Gyeonggi Province,” he added.
The minor opposition People’s Party also attacked Kim’s apology.
“Though Kim said she will own up to her faults, she did not specify how she will take responsibility,” Hong Kyeong-hee, spokesperson from the People‘s Party election committee, said. “The conference had the shape of an apology but lacked the essence.”
Following the apology, the whistleblower of the controversies issued an official statement, saying Kim’s statement lacked sincerity.
“Kim did not answer the important questions that she should have. I would like to repeat the questions asking to which extent she admits to misusing the corporate card and who ate all the food,” the whistleblower said.
Kim’s apology came seven hours after Lee Nak-yon, head of the election committee, requested her apology at a party meeting. Lee said that she should “admit (to the allegations) truthfully and apologize modestly,” when asked by reporters whether he thought Lee’s wife should offer an apology.
On Jan. 28, the whistleblower, an unnamed official formerly assigned to the head of policy office while Lee was the governor, shared the allegations with the press, claiming Kim ordered members of the public office to deliver food, clean her house and fetch prescribed medicine for her.
By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)