Park Geun-hye was more concerned with national image than compensation for forced labor

Posted on : 2019-05-14 18:24 KST Modified on : 2019-05-14 18:24 KST
Former Bleu House official testifies ex-president instructed to “make sure we aren’t humiliated”  
Ex-president Park Geun-hye waits for her trail to begin at the Seoul Central District Court on May 23
Ex-president Park Geun-hye waits for her trail to begin at the Seoul Central District Court on May 23

Ex-president Park Geun-hye said “make sure we aren’t humiliated” while instructing her staff to send the Supreme Court the government’s opinion about its second review of a lawsuit requesting compensation for Koreans forced to provide labor during the Japanese colonial occupation, according to the person who served as senior secretary for foreign policy and security at the Blue House at the time. Park’s remarks apparently reflected her concerns that South Korea’s national prestige would be damaged if the Supreme Court finally recognized Japan’s responsibility for compensating the victims of forced labor.

The work journal of Kim Gyu-hyeon, former senior secretary for foreign policy and security, was made public when Kim appeared as a witness in the trial of Im Jong-heon, 60, former deputy director of the National Court Administration on May 13. Presiding over the trial was Hon. Yun Jong-seop, a judge with the 36th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court.

An entry in the work journal from Dec. 2015 reads as follows: “Quickly send the government’s opinion about the forced labor case. Make sure we aren’t humiliated. Bear in mind Korea’s position in the world. Damage to the national prestige. Handle this wisely.”

“I called the president to brief her on the issue of South Korea and Japan’s comfort women agreement, and she instructed me to send the government’s opinion to the Supreme Court to wrap up that issue. After saying ‘make sure we aren’t humiliated,’ she may have thought better of that phrasing because she went on to tell me to take consideration of South Korea’s status in the world and handle this wisely so that the national prestige isn’t damaged,” Kim said.

Kim said he presented those remarks in their entirety to Lee Byung-ki, who was then the president’s chief of staff, and to Yun Byung-se, who was serving as the foreign minister. “The Foreign Ministry thought that the Supreme Court’s 2012 ruling contradicted the government’s position and therefore took [Park’s] expression to mean that the [next] ruling needed to correspond with the government’s position,” Kim added.

In a related move, the court issued an additional detention warrant for Im, who is implicated in allegations that lawmakers in the National Assembly asked for favors in ongoing trials. The prosecutors had previously raised serious concerns about the potential destruction of evidence because Im and Yang Seung-tae, former chief justice of the Supreme Court, had met several times with the attorneys of their alleged accomplice, former Supreme Court Justice Park Byeong-dae, while in jail. Im, who was put in detention facing trial in November 2018, had been set to be released at midnight on Monday when his six-month period of detention expired. The new detention warrant means that he can be kept in detention while his trial continues until Nov. 13 at the latest.

By Ko Han-sol, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]

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