[EDITORIALS]A poor performance

Song Du-yul, a Korean-German sociologist, held a press conference yesterday to declare that he would apologize for his past deeds if they deserve an apology and would submit himself to punishment for his past deeds if they merit punishment. But he added, “I don’t know what to apologize for,” and gave some absurd explanations about the National Intelligence Service’s investigation results. We were deeply disappointed by Mr. Song’s attitude.
If Mr. Song truly wants to live as a member of South Korean society, as he said, he has to reflect honestly and thoroughly on his conduct. But he denied or made pretexts about the deeds that the National Intelligence Service discovered through its investigations, such as working as a member of the North Korean Workers’ Party’s Politburo; pledging loyalty to Kim Il Sung, the former president of North Korea and receiving huge amounts of operating funds from North Korean authorities. Mr. Song said that North Korea had unilaterally given him a “nominal” position as a Workers’ Party’s Politburo member and he recognized that only later. He added that he never actually worked as a member. If what he said is true, why did he sue for slander Hwang Jang-yop, former secretary of the Workers’ Party and a defector to the South, who asserted that Mr. Song was actually Kim Chul-su, a member of the party’s Politburo? And why had he denied that he was a Politburo member, until he returned to South Korea? Mr. Song also said that he joined the Workers’ Party because he thought all visitors to North Korea in the 1970s joined the party out of courtesy. Bah.
Mr. Song said he loved and criticized both the North and South, but he has criticized the South heavily and we have never heard Mr. Song criticize the system or human rights in North Korea.
Mr. Song is trying to gloss over what he wanted to hide, but the intelligence service discovered. His behavior has disappointed even the social activists and scholars who were favorably disposed to him. Unless he wants to be exiled again, he should admit his wrongdoings.