Kim Moon-soo, a candidate for the People Power Party presidential primary, clarified on the 26th that Hong Joon-pyo's remark during the past Ministry of Employment and Labor minister confirmation hearing that 'the nationality of the people during the Japanese colonial era was Japanese' was incorrect, pointing out the New Right historical view, stating, 'It meant that we were forcibly made Japanese nationals by losing what we had.'
On the same day, Kim responded while attending the People Power Party's top four candidate debate in the afternoon.
Kim has previously sparked controversy by reiterating the claim that 'the nationality of our ancestors during the Japanese colonial era was Japanese' in public.
During a comprehensive policy inquiry at the National Assembly's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts in September 2024, he answered Representative Wi Seong-gon of the Democratic Party of Korea's question asking, 'What was the nationality of Koreans living during the Japanese colonial era?' by saying, 'Since Korea was colonized by Japan, there was no Korean nationality at that time.'
In mentioning this, Hong asked, 'If that's the logic, then the independence movements during the Japanese colonial period were all rebellions. How about apologizing even now?'
In response, Kim mentioned the late Son Ki-chung, stating, 'The ethnicity is our Korean ethnicity, but wasn't the country taken away? He went to the Berlin Olympics with the Japanese flag and won a gold medal,' and added, 'If Son was Korean, why did he go out with the Japanese flag? We fought for independence to find our nationality. It means a stateless condition.'
When Hong asked whether Kim agreed or disagreed with the official Ministry of Foreign Affairs document from 1986 that stated, 'The identity of the Great Korean Empire and the Republic of Korea is maintained,' Kim replied, 'Basically, we should agree.'
Kim stated, 'Since the Treaty on Basic Relations between Korea and Japan was signed in 1965, what was done before that is void,' adding, 'Because a new agreement was made in the Treaty on Basic Relations, we cannot overlook the historical fact that we lost our nationality before 1965.'
He continued, 'It could be normatively argued that our nationality was not taken away at that time, but we cannot deny that.'
Additionally, when Hong asked, 'You said Kim Gu's nationality was Chinese, but he has already apologized for that, right?' Kim responded, 'There was speculation that his nationality was Chinese. However, it could not be proven, so we have apologized.'