People Power Party lawmaker Park Soo-min (first-term, Gangnam, Seoul) became the first to participate in a 'relay apology' on the 5th, saying, 'The emergency martial law on Dec. 3 was clearly a mistake.' He added, 'I will launch a renewal and re-establishment movement within the party.'
Park, who expressed her intention to resign from her position as the floor spokesperson that day, released a reflective statement in front of the National Assembly, where a general meeting of lawmakers was taking place.
She opened by saying, 'Over the past six months since Dec. 3, I have not been able to deliver sufficient reflection and apology during the confusion. I believe it is time to organize the situation and express my reflections and apologies.'
She continued, 'I was fortunate to have participated in the lifting of martial law over the National Assembly wall on Dec. 3, but my colleagues were not as lucky. At that time, the communication in the People Power Party group chat was severely disrupted. Unfortunately, many fellow lawmakers could not arrive at the plenary session.'
She emphasized, 'However, at the emergency general meeting held on the morning of Dec. 3, we all opposed martial law in unison and recognized that the president's early resignation was inevitable and discussed it.'
Park added, 'We all believed we should attempt an orderly resignation. I believed that was our responsibility and duty to the people. However, the impeachment motion passed too quickly, causing the situation to spiral out of control.'
Park noted, 'The people, shocked by the passage of the impeachment motion, took to the streets. Various procedural irregularities compounded during the constitutional trial. There was no opportunity to explain the situation to the public, and the people's sentiments in the square coalesced solely against the impeachment. I regret that I could only watch this unfold.'
She emphasized, 'The People Power Party did not unilaterally oppose impeachment.'
'The first and second impeachments were quite inadequate and problematic. There were many poison clauses. So ultimately, there was big confusion over whether to include or exclude the charge of insurrection during the impeachment trial,' she added. 'Thus, we aimed to stabilize the situation while waiting for the third and fourth impeachment motions. However, with the second impeachment motion passing without proper preparation, the situation became uncontrollable.'
Park mentioned, 'At the root of these events was an internal inherent flaw manifesting as division within the party. In the midst of the division, we began the impeachment proceedings in the dark, and the confusion was greatly amplified.' She further stated, 'In this internal division, we ended up self-labeling as the anti-impeachment and pro-martial law parties. I deeply apologize for opening an impeachment motion in haste and for self-stigmatizing as anti-impeachment, leading to the election defeat. I now express the regret I've felt as I could only watch these developments unfold.'
Park also said, 'One frequent comment from the people is, 'Please do not be overly attached to your position.' I will adhere to that. I will not be attached to my position at any moment.'
He also stated that he would embark on a reestablishment movement. He said, 'I will begin the renewal and reestablishment movement within the party, and the conservative right party needs to be reborn.'
Starting with Park, the party plans to enter a 'relay apology.' Park stated, 'I will start, and the march of reflection will continue,' adding, '(Those who expressed their intention to join are) a few people.'