'Glad I finished Thaad, Gsomia before going to prison'

Politics

Published: 26 Sep. 2023, 20:35 Updated: 26 Sep. 2023, 22:22

'Glad I finished Thaad, Gsomia before going to prison'

Former President Park Geun-hye at her home in Dalseong County, Daegu, on Sept. 11. [KWON HYUK-JAE]

Former President Park Geun-hye spent 1,737 days in prison.

However, she said she has never been impatient about her 22-year prison sentence as she was confident in her innocence.

Park said she had never accepted bribes or engaged in corruption that would benefit another person.

The interview with the JoongAng Ilbo was conducted for two hours at former President Park Geun-hye’s home in Dalseong County, Daegu on Sept. 11.

The following is the full interview:

Q. This is your first interview since you were released on a special pardon. Is there anything you would like to say to the people?

A. I would like to offer my sincere apologies once again for the disappointment and concerns I caused by not fulfilling the role entrusted to me due to my failure to properly manage the people around me.

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks and deep gratitude to the people across the country who unwaveringly placed their trust in me and offered their support during the most challenging moments of my life.
I am in debt to those people.

But above all, I want to extend my heartfelt condolences to the five individuals who died while participating in the rally that opposed my impeachment.

I would like to take this opportunity to give my heartfelt prayers to the individuals who passed away and their surviving family.

Q. Your impeachment started from your relationship with Choi Seo-won. How did you get to know her and what was her role?

Although I knew her as the daughter of Reverend Choi Tae-min, we weren’t particularly close in the beginning. When I ran for Dalseong County’s by-election in 1998, Choi’s mother came to assist me, accompanied by Choi and her husband Chung Yoon-hoi.
When I was elected president, I didn’t have anyone around me to whom I could turn for personal errands. As a woman, there were certain challenges in seeking assistance from male secretaries. That is when Choi began to visit the Blue House. I genuinely believed that Choi was someone who was aiding me without personal interest as she had never sought to exploit our relationship for her own benefit or interfere in affairs before I was elected.

Q. Were you unaware that Choi Seo-won personally managed the Mi-R and K-Sports foundations?

It is true that the board members of both Mi-R and K-Sports were recommended by Choi. However, I didn’t think it would be a problem since they went through a screening process and they were experts in their respective fields. Looking back, I regret not refusing Choi when she first told me that she would like to introduce several individuals as board members for the foundations. I was shocked when I was told during the prosecutors’ investigation that Choi was heavily involved in management including hiring employees. Nevertheless, I sincerely apologize to the people as it was my fault of failing to properly manage those around me.

*The Mi-R and K-Sports were foundations created by Choi Seo-won using her long-time relationship with Park and her influence within the government to strong arm major conglomerates including Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK and LG to make contributions.

Q. The court acknowledged that the contributions by Lotte and SK in the establishment of Mi-R and K-Sports constituted bribery. Did you personally request the contributions during one-on-one meetings with the heads of the conglomerates?

The court ruled both Lotte’s contribution to the K-Sports Foundation, which was later refunded, and the initially planned contribution by SK, which was later abandoned, as bribes.

However, I cannot accept the ruling because, for a crime to be established, it must be proven that an illegal favor was granted. There were no favors asked to me by either Lotte or SK.

Since it was a personal meeting with a president, there may have been issues that had been discussed regarding the difficulties the companies faced. But I have never granted favors.

I believed that conglomerates sponsoring sports promotion would contribute to improving people’s lives. Never did I imagine that the sponsorships would come with expectations of favors.

I never asked the conglomerate chairmen for specific amounts of sponsorships.

But I think it was my responsibility for not knowing Choi was trying to personally profit through the foundation, and it was my fault for misjudging the person.

Q. It has been confirmed that you had received 3.65 billion won ($2.7 million) in special activity funds from former National Intelligence Service directors Nam Jae-joon, Lee Byung-kee and Lee Byung-ho between May 2013 and September 2016. Why did you receive the funds and where did you spend them?

When I first assumed office, my aides reported to me about an NIS fund that could be used in managing the Blue House. They mentioned that the NIS provided such financial assistance to the Blue House in previous administrations. I had instructed my staff to utilize the funds for official purposes.

However, I have neither received any reports nor have knowledge on where the funds were used.

I have never used the special activity fund for personal purposes.

In September 2016 then-NIS Director Lee Byung-ho sent 200 million won, which Secretary Jeong Ho-seong delivered to my residence.

I used it to hand out Chuseok motivational money to the Blue House staff.

Because I made the order to the Blue House, whatever the reasons may be, I extend my deep apologies to the three former NIS directors, who had to endure such difficulties.

I deeply regret not going through the legal review on the special activity fund.

The three former directors bear no responsibility.

*The prison sentences on all three former NIS directors were finalized in July 2021. Nam Jae-joon was sentenced to 18 months, Lee Byung-kee was sentenced to three years while Lee Byung-ho was given three years and six months. The directors were granted special pardons in December last year.

Q. You were sentenced by the court to two years in prison for illegally intervening in selecting Saenuri Party [today’s People Power Party] candidates running for the 2016 legislative election. The accusation was that the Blue House conducted an illegal survey to manage a list of candidates that were pro-Park so that such candidates could be selected as candidates, while politicians that were against you such as Yoo Seong-min would be excluded.

It would be a lie to say a president has no interest in the legislative election. However, while I may have spoken about several people, I have no memory of creating a specific list of candidates that I had handpicked as must-haves and handing it over to the party.

The secretary of political affairs once reported the results of a survey during a senior secretaries’ meeting. However, I recall the survey delivered to the Blue House was conducted by the party.

I had given warnings [to Saenuri Party politicians] as there were rumors circulating about people calling out non-loyalists. I deeply regret not delivering a stronger warning.

I never explicitly ordered the disapproval of then Rep. Yoon Seong-min’s candidacy. However, I was aware that there were Blue House advisors who held negative view of Rep. Yoo.

In the end, I was responsible for the candidate nomination controversy.

At the time, party leader Kim Moo-sung requested a meeting with me, even a phone call, to discuss matters on the legislative election’s candidate nominations. However, that connection was never made.

I only learned about it when I was in prison.

At the time, I had no knowledge of such a situation. And while I was infuriated as to who had intervened, who am I to blame others? I see it as having been my responsibility as president.

Q. From July 2017, you refused to appear at your own trial. Why?

Although I might have made several mistakes while governing the country, I didn’t think I had committed such serious wrongdoing to be indicted on bribery and impeached.

So, I placed my trust in the court and endured up to four trials a week, pushing myself to my physical limits.

But when the court issued an additional arrest warrant, I reached the conclusion that I could no longer anticipate a fair trial.

So, I decided to give up on the trial and believed that regardless of the verdict rendered, the truth would eventually come to light.

Q. It has been said that some of the so-called pro-Park politicians voted in favor of your impeachment.

Among the lawmakers who voted in favor of the impeachment were so-called pro-Parks. And most lawmakers have never once asked about my wellbeing during my lengthy incarceration.

After hearing that a lawmaker who is a friend of my brother [Park Ji-man] and the party’s floor leader voted in favor of my impeachment, it made me reflect deeply on people and trust issues.

Q. Tensions between North and South Korea escalated following North Korea's provocation using wooden landmines. However, it has been observed that the Park Geun-hye government maintained a principled stance in contrast to a conciliatory tone.

Our North Korean policy, which we pursued diligently, aimed to uphold the principle of safeguarding our national security unequivocally while persuading North Korea to denuclearize.

While there were no under-the-table contacts, we had repeatedly expressed our willingness to engage in dialogue at any given moment if North Korea demonstrates readiness to move forward.

It was the same principle in which I made the Dresden Declaration.

In fact, until 2015 there had been efforts made between the North and South in building trust.

However, after North Korea conducted its nuclear tests and engaged in several missile provocations in 2016, exchanges between the two Koreans were temporarily suspended.

Since then, the Korea-U.S. alliance strengthened while a structure in the international community against North Korea was established.

*The Dresden Declaration was a vision on the peaceful unification of the North and South announced by then-President Park in 2014 during her visit to Germany. She made several proposals including solutions to humanitarian issues as well as establishment of infrastructure that would benefit both Koreas.

Q. On Dec. 28, 2015, the Korean and Japanese government announced an agreement regarding the compensation of women that were sex slaves during the Japanese occupation. The agreement was welcomed in neither country and politically unpopular. And yet you continued to pursue it. Why?

At the time, compensating the comfort women had been an issue at the center of the relationship between Korea and Japan for 24 years.

I believed that I could no longer let this issue to pass on to the future generation.

The agreement was created after collecting the opinion of the people who were involved.

The key to the three demands that we had made to Japan was that they were demands that the victims themselves had made.

While Korea and Japan were the ones that worked the most in drafting the agreement, the agreement was the results of multilateral diplomatic efforts with the U.S. and the international community.

Former President Park Geun-hye at her home in Dalseong County, Daegu, on Sept. 11. [KWON HYUK-JAE]

Q.The Moon Jae-in government disbanded the Reconciliation and Healing Foundation.

Korea’s global credibility had been affected as a foundation that was created with so much effort and international consensus had been smashed into pieces.

Since the disbanding of the foundation, I don’t know if there are alternative or better solutions.

Q. In the second half of 2016 there were talks of impeachment at the National Assembly. Yet you pushed through with the signing of Gsomia, which sparked a strong protest from the Democratic Party.

In 2016, North Korea conducted two nuclear tests and launched ballistic missiles 24 times.
It was a serious national security situation and our military wanted to sign the Gsomia that would enhance our intelligence capacity.

The U.S. was also having difficulty as the information exchanges between Korea and Japan didn’t go so smoothly.

While impeachment discussions were raised at the National Assembly, I continued pushing the agreement for national security reasons as president, even thinking it might be the last thing I do.

I am glad and I find comfort knowing that I may have agonized if I went to prison without doing it.

Q. There had been a lot of controversy regarding the deployment of Thaad in 2016.

Thaad is the very least we can do to defend our country from increasing threats from North Korea.

Although China opposed it, I held to my principle that there is no higher value than the security of our people.

After the announcement of the Thaad deployment, North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear test.

When the UN Security Council agreed to adopt its strongest resolution against North Korea, China actively cooperated.

The cooperation between Korea and China had continued.

There was various opposition while deciding the site to deploy the Thaad system. Yet Lotte provided the golf course even at the cost of losing its business in China.

I express my gratitude to Lotte Group for their patriotism.

Q. You watched the birth of the Moon Jae-in government while in prison. How did it make you feel?

My heart fell after hearing the results of the presidential election. The Moon Jae-in government's response to the North Korean nuclear threat and dissonance with allied countries made me worried.

Q. During the legislative election in 2020, in a letter you wrote from prison, you asked all conservatives to unite. What were your thoughts at the time?

I thought it was important to unite and to win the election so that the conservative party could secure a majority seat in the National Assembly and balance against the Moon Jae-in government.

Although I wasn’t entirely comfortable, I conveyed the message of uniting all conservative forces despite my personal reservations.

Q. What are your thoughts on criticism that the Park Geun-hye administration was a failure?

I can accept criticism that I, as a person, failed as I didn’t finish my presidential term.

However, I don’t understand which polices were so wrong to say that my administration was a failure in terms of policies.

I believed that the break-up of the Unified Progressive Party, the reform of the public employees’ pension fund, the shutdown of the Kaesong Industrial Park and the deployment of Thaad were all necessary actions that had to be taken as they would determine our national fate.

The creative economy innovation centers were a policy that we had put much effort into, expecting that it would play a fitting role in an era of the fourth industrial revolution.

I feel a sense of accomplishment as there were substantial results already out even before I was impeached.

Q. Some critics argue that because of the public workers’ pension reform, the conservative party lost the legislative election in 2016. Had you not thought about delaying the pension reform after the election?

I believe that is the president’s job. Many thought the reform of public employee pensions should have happened a long time ago, but it did not.

They had just let it continue even though it was evident that it was a ticking time bomb that would explode sometime soon.

I thought that such an issue wouldn’t be solved without the determination of the president.

Every day, roughly 8 billion won in taxes had been going into filling the deficit in the public employees’ pension fund.

We had informed the public that if we didn’t make the changes today, next year that daily amount would increase to 10 billion won.

It wasn’t easy but we created a consensus group that made its decision after numerous discussions.

The reform could have affected the election.

However, I would have blamed myself more if I didn’t, especially knowing that the public’s burden would grow even larger with the passing of time.

Q. President Yoon Suk Yeol, who led the special counsel investigation team against you, succeeded in regime change as a candidate of the conservative camp. How do you see the current administration’s direction and governance?

First of all, I am relieved that the liberal government failed to secure an extension and was replaced by a conservative government.

I believe several prosecutors that participated in the investigation at the time are now in major positions within the Yoon Suk Yeol government, including a minister.

However, since the decision on whom to appoint is solely the prerogative of the president, it would not be appropriate for me to comment.

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration has been in office for only a year and four months. Therefore it is too early to assess the current government's direction and policies.

Nevertheless, when assessing the current government’s direction and policies, it appears that there is a sense of urgency, considering that this administration has been in office for only a year and four months.

As a former president, I don’t think it is appropriate to address such problems.

Q. There is speculation that past pro-Park figures are planning a comeback by running in the election.

Personally, I have no plans of getting involved in next year’s election. I have repeatedly stated that there is no such thing as "pro-Park" in politics.

As for those who were in politics and now considering a return to the political arena, it is their own personal decision and therefore it is not my place to comment.

However, I hope they will not associate me with it and claim it is to restore my honor.

I hope that past relationships pass as past relationships.

Q. The Our Republican Party still argues that the impeachment is invalid. What would your thoughts be if they send out candidates for next year’s legislative elections under the justification of restoring your honor?

I am well aware of the efforts that the Our Republican Party is making in arguing that my impeachment was invalid.

However, I think the sincerity of a politician is different from those of a regular person.

A politician should focus solely on their own political agenda for next year’s election.

I hope they would refrain from using my image and claiming that they are running in the election to restore my honor.

Of course, I have limitless gratitude to the people that have gone through so much in supporting me over the last several years.

Q. You are now 71 years old. How do you plan to spend the rest of your remaining years?

Throughout my life I have prioritized my public duties over my personal life. I see that as my destiny. Even though I am no longer actively involved in frontline politics, I remain committed to contributing, even in a small way, to my country. I consider it the least I can do to reciprocate the love that the people have given me.

BY KIM JUNG-HA, YOU SEONG-UN AND SON KOOK-HEE [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]