DistantNews
Support us
Reform Party Acting Leader Apologizes in Busan for Nominating Candidate Accused of Staging Attack
🇰🇷 South Korea /Elections & Politics

Reform Party Acting Leader Apologizes in Busan for Nominating Candidate Accused of Staging Attack

From Dong-A Ilbo · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement In the courts
  • Reform Party acting leader and floor leader Chun Ha-ram apologized in Busan for the party’s nomination of former mayoral candidate Jung Yi-han.
  • Jung was detained and indicted on allegations that he staged an attack during the June 3 local election campaign.
  • Chun said the party focused too heavily on fielding a candidate and failed to conduct adequate vetting, while critics called the apology late.

Reform Party acting leader Chun Ha-ram spent three hours apologizing to Busan residents for a nomination that ended with the party’s candidate facing criminal charges over an alleged staged attack.

Chun stood outside Sejeong Tower in Geumjeong-gu from 7 a.m. on Sept. 2, holding a sign that read, “We deeply apologize to the citizens of Busan for the wrong nomination for mayor of Busan.” The apology concerned Jung Yi-han, the party’s former Busan mayoral candidate in the June 3 local elections. Jung was detained and indicted on allegations that he staged an assault during the campaign.

“We ended up nominating a candidate who did something that should never have been done, staging an attack,” Chun told residents. “I thought it was our duty to come directly to the place where we made such a serious mistake and apologize to the citizens of Busan.”

We ended up nominating a candidate who did something that should never have been done, staging an attack. I thought it was our duty to come directly to the place where we made such a serious mistake and apologize to the citizens of Busan.

— Chun Ha-ramThe Reform Party acting leader apologized to Busan residents over the nomination of Jung Yi-han.

Chun said the party had concentrated too much on being able to field a candidate for mayor and had fallen short in its screening process. “We should have checked more carefully, and I feel a great deal of regret and self-reproach,” he said.

Asked why the apology came three months after the local elections, Chun said the investigation had been ongoing and the party had been deeply unsettled internally. With Jung detained and indicted, and parts of the case now revealed, he said the party believed it was proper to visit Busan and apologize.

The gesture nevertheless drew criticism from political circles as an apology that came after the right moment had passed. The leadership of former party leader Lee Jun-seok resigned en masse after disagreements over how to respond to the local election defeat.

We should have checked more carefully, and I feel a great deal of regret and self-reproach.

— Chun Ha-ramChun acknowledged shortcomings in the party’s candidate-vetting process.
About this summary

Originally published by Dong-A Ilbo in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog