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Impeached former President Park Geun-hye, left, meets with President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol at her home in Daegu on April 12. (provided by the office of Yoon’s spokesperson)

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol pledged to “restore the honor” and carry on the policies of former President Park Geun-hye during a visit to her home on Tuesday.

With his head lowered, Yoon told Park that he had “always felt sorry” and had “nothing to say for myself.” With Yoon having stressed the importance of “fairness and common sense” during his campaign, his apology led critics to accuse him of flip-flopping and repudiating Park’s previous impeachment in order to help ensure a victory for his People Power Party in the June 1 local elections and build up momentum for his presidency.

Yoon, who is currently on a tour of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, visited Park at her home in Daegu’s Dalseong County that day for a meeting that lasted 50 minutes.

Meeting with reporters afterward, he explained that they had “talked about [Park’s] health.”

“I told her that there had been things that had happened in the past, how I felt bad at a human level and how sorry I felt inside,” he said. This suggested that he expressed regrets to Park for the past role he played in requesting a heavy prison sentence against her while investigating her administration’s influence-peddling allegations as leader of a special prosecutor’s investigation team in 2016.

According to briefings by Yoon’s transition committee vice chairperson Kwon Young-se and Park’s attorney Yoo Young-ha, both of whom were present at the meeting, Park calmly listened while Yoon apologized for his role in investigating Park.

“I have nothing to say for myself. I always felt sorry,” he was quoted as saying.

He also reportedly went on to say that Park had “had truly great policies and achievements, and it’s very unfortunate that those aspects have not gained the recognition they should.”

“I plan to carry on your efforts and policies and promote them widely to help ensure you gain proper recognition and your honor can be restored,” he was quoted as saying, as Park responded by expressing her gratitude.

Former President Park Geun-hye, left, shakes hands with President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol at her home in Daegu on April 12. (provided by the office of Yoon’s spokesperson)

His remarks suggested that beyond merely “feeling bad at a human level,” Yoon also pledged to carry on the policies and restore the “honor” of an administration that was forced out of office by a scandal involving the peddling of government influence by unelected associates.

Yoon was further quoted as making remarks praising Park Chung-hee, Park Geun-hye’s father and the former South Korean president, explaining that he had been “reading information about how he had run his Cabinet and the Blue House at the time, while contacting people who had worked under him to learn about how he conducted state affairs.” He also asked Park to share “many teachings.”

When he told Park that he had been “having trouble sleeping because of my worries since being elected,” she responded by stressing that the “position of president is a great and weighty one.”

The local elections on June 1 were a topic of shared interest to both of them.

Yoon was reported as telling Park that had been “elected thanks to strong support in Daegu and North Gyeongsang.”

“The margin was not that large, but after I learned that the counting in Daegu had been delayed, I anticipated that I would win,” he added. In response, Park asked for him to show “strong attention to Daegu’s development.”

In reply, Yoon said, “As a matter of fact, Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin came to me with a request [for Daegu’s development].”

Regarding this issue, Yoon reportedly spoke about his appointment of longtime acquaintance and former Kyungpook National University Hospital Director Chung Ho-young, to serve as the nation’s health and welfare minister.

Responding to Yoon’s request that she attend his presidential inauguration ceremony, Park said she couldn’t be confident due to the current state of her health, but she would “try to attend if possible.”

Yoon’s meeting with Park and deferential attitude that day were seen as part of an attempt to shore up his support with conservatives, which remains fragile.

“President-elect Yoon is kind of like a ‘CEO’ figure who’s been brought on the board of the conservative party,” explained Eom Gyeong-yeong, director of the Zeitgeist Institute.

“This was an example of the CEO going to pay respects to Park Geun-hye as someone who remains the ‘owner’ of the Daegu/North Gyeongsang region,” he added.

But one of the leading figures in the influence-peddling investigation remarked that it was “contradictory” and “inappropriate” for Yoon to bow his head before an impeached former president and pledge to restore her honor while apologizing for his role in sending her to prison.

In a briefing the same day, Justice Party spokesperson Jang Tae-soo said, “When the president-elect told Park that he was ‘sorry’ and had ‘nothing to say for himself,’ those kinds of remarks are a repudiation of the impeachment and a threat to democracy.”

“He disparaged the prosecutors’ official duties, the National Assembly’s responsibilities, and the authority of the Constitutional Court. He’s entitled to share his feelings as an individual speaking to another individual, but these were highly inappropriate as remarks by the president-elect that are shared with the public,” he added.

Political commentator Park Sang-byeong said, “When the president of the Republic of Korea lowers his head before a former president who was impeached on legitimate grounds, that is an affront to the pride of the public that elected him.”

“This kind of behavior that’s intended merely to rally supporters could end up politically constraining Yoon Suk-yeol and hobbling his political activities going forward,” Park Sang-byeong predicted.

Some analysts said Yoon could end up facing a backlash with his attempts to “rehabilitate” Park Geun-hye and use that as a springboard to broaden his political influence.

“Judging from the things she has been saying and doing, Park Geun-hye appears to be trying to reestablish her political influence and restore her name through particular candidates in the Daegu and North Gyeongsang region,” Park Sang-byeong said.

“That could lead to a backlash among moderates,” he warned.

By Jang Na-rye, staff reporter

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