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| Hong Ji-man, spokesman of the conservative Liberty Korea Party, speaks at the National Assembly briefing room. / Yonhap |
By Choi Ha-young
The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), Thursday, withdrew a statement it issued the previous day to defend former President Park Geun-hye.
The party issued the statement hours after the prosecution disclosed the results of its investigation, Wednesday, into what Park did during seven hours on the day of the ferry Sewol sinking in 2016. The prosecution concluded that Park's aides fabricated records to conceal Park's dereliction of duty during the crucial hours.
The Park administration had claimed that she learned of the incident at 10:00 a.m. on April 16, 2016.
According to the investigation, however, Park stayed in her bedroom until 10:20 a.m. Until a secretary knocked on the door to wake her up, Park didn't respond to phone calls from aides trying to report the sinking. The ferry was submerged by 10:30 a.m.
The Park government's silence about the crisis gave rise to rumors regarding the president's whereabouts for seven hours, until she arrived at the Central Disaster and Safety and Countermeasures Headquarters at 5:15 p.m. The prosecution exposed that she met her confidant Choi Soon-sil at 2:15 p.m. ― a fact that has never been made public ― and put on make-up at 2:53 p.m.
The bereaved families are again venting their anger against the ex-president and furious comments have flooded online communities. The LKP, however, sympathized with Park, without admitting the party's responsibility as the then ruling party.
"The truth is simple. Park belatedly learned about the incident and did nothing about it until Choi came to Cheong Wa Dae," party spokesman Hong Ji-man said. "None of the rumors turned out to be true. There was no need to grill her. Obviously, Park was investigated unfairly."
The party further criticized "leftist" media and citizens who protested to oust Park. "Liberal parties, civic groups and leftist groups should kneel and apologize. Those who took to the streets with candles are no exception," Hong said.
The party cast doubt on the legitimacy of the Moon Jae-in administration. "Voters, please punish the liars who took power by spreading groundless rumors in the local elections."
Two hours later, the LKP issued a revised statement, Wednesday, removing the sentence that it sympathized with Park. However, other parts of the statement remained the same.
On Thursday, the LKP leadership decided to withdraw the controversial statement. Party floor leader Kim Sung-tae said the party will issue a separate statement after considerable revisions. "The statement last night was not fully coordinated within the party," Kim said.
In the updated statement, another spokesman Rep. Chang Je-won said the party has no excuse to offer about the tragedy. "Above all, it's difficult to make an excuse for the ex-president who stayed in her bedroom during her duty hours," Chang said.
"The government ― led by a lethargic president and craven secretaries ― failed to handle the crisis," he added. However, the party didn't apologize to the bereaved families of the 304 victims.
The LKP with 116 lawmakers officially severed ties with Park by expelling her in November last year. However, the party kept advocating for the imprisoned president. When the prosecution demanded a 30-year prison term for Park, Feb. 28, Rep. Chang said: "How can it be crueler than this? A demand for the death sentence would be less cruel."
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