Ruling party chief apologizes over Cho Kuk scandal

Ruling DPK chief Lee Hae-chan looks at prepared documents at the start of a news conference at the National Assembly, Wednesday. Yonhap

By Kim Yoo-chul

Ruling party chief Lee Hae-chan issued a public apology Wednesday over former Justice Minister Cho Kuk's alleged involvement in various financial wrongdoings and academic privileges allegedly given to Cho's daughter.

“As the ruling party chief, I offer a very sincere apology to the public,” Lee said at a news conference at the National Assembly. “The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has been focusing on pursuing prosecutorial reform, leaving growing public calls to create a 'fair society' sincerely untouched.

“I feel a huge responsibility for how the public, especially young people, feel about issues relating to the former justice minister.”

But the party chief stressed that the DPK will continue teaming with Cheong Wa Dae and relevant government ministries to move forward with plans to curb the prosecution's iron grip.

“Ironically, the so-called Cho Kuk scandal was an opportunity to reaffirm the prosecution's strong power and understand the public's strong willingness to reform the prosecution,” Lee said. “The DPK can't afford to lose this golden chance to correct practices that have been untouched for a long time in the prosecution.”

The South Korean prosecution has long been blamed for monopolizing law enforcement authority and wielding it for the ruling power, often at the sacrifice of basic human rights.

President Moon Jae-in, who served as a top confidant to late former President Roh Moo-hyun, attempted to reform the prosecution. But the efforts were in vain, mostly because of strong protests from conservatives.

“There's no question over the necessity of creating an independent unit which has the authority to investigate alleged criminal cases of high-ranking government officials,” the DPK chief said, adding the party will cooperate with three minor parties to pass the fast-tracked reform bills without the help of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) before Dec. 3.

The apology comes before crucial general elections scheduled for next April, seen as a key barometer in deciding the fate of the second half of the Moon administration and preventing a “lame-duck” status for President Moon.

More importantly, the outcome of the elections is an important factor for the 2022 presidential and local elections.

After Moon accepted Cho's resignation, his support is rebounding. From Oct. 21-25, it rose to 45.7 percent, up 0.7 of a percentage point from a week earlier, a Realmeter poll showed. His disapproval rating declined 1.9 percentage points to 50.4 percent in the period.

The prosecution considers the reformation to be Moon's attempt to gain control if ruling party chief Lee's idea of creating the independent probe unit is realized.

“I understand the beauty of checks and balances. However, the LKP has been uncooperative in all things. I am so sorry about that,” Lee said.