Choi Su-jin says apology inflicts 'secondary harm' on bereaved family, firefighters

Choo visits wake, says she had no intent to belittle firefighters

Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae speaks outside the funeral hall at Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital on Saturday, where the late Fire Lieutenant Kim Jin-seok, who died in the line of duty in a Bucheon factory fire, is being mourned. [Yonhap]
Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae speaks outside the funeral hall at Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital on Saturday, where the late Fire Lieutenant Kim Jin-seok, who died in the line of duty in a Bucheon factory fire, is being mourned. [Yonhap]

The People Power Party on Sunday pressed Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae to stop inflicting "secondary harm" on the bereaved family and firefighters, saying her apology over the so-called "fiscal straw" remark lacked sincerity.

PPP floor spokesperson Choi Su-jin said in a statement Sunday that "Choo's belated apology contained no remorse and no accountability," adding that "what the bereaved family and the public had been waiting for was not political embellishment but humble reflection that fully acknowledged wrongdoing."

Choi dismissed the apology as nothing more than one "forced out by worsening public opinion and pressure from party leadership," saying Choo "failed to shed her arrogant attitude — the sense of doing it only because she was told to — right up to the moment she apologized."

Choi also said the explanation that the remarks were "regrettable if conveyed differently than intended" amounted to "another deflection of responsibility dressed up as an apology," adding that she "cannot hide her dismay at a public official who redirects blame away from her own words and onto the public for misunderstanding them."

Choi urged Choo to "immediately stop the secondary harm being inflicted on the bereaved family and frontline firefighters behind a facade of bowing her head," saying what Choo must do now is "not hide behind excuses but sincerely and deeply reflect before the uniformed heroes and the public."

Meanwhile, Choo visited the funeral hall at Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital on Saturday afternoon to pay her respects to the late Fire Lieutenant Kim Jin-seok, who died in the line of duty in a Bucheon factory fire in Gyeonggi Province. She then addressed the controversy, saying, "If my remarks were conveyed differently than I intended, I offer my deepest regrets and sincerely apologize," and that she "had absolutely no intention of belittling firefighters."

She also said that while she had been asked to apologize at the fire scene, she had declined because "that was not the appropriate place," adding that her refusal at the time "did not mean I was unwilling to apologize."

The controversy began Tuesday, when Choo, during a National Assembly audit of Gyeonggi Province by the Public Administration and Security Committee, referred to the budget for firefighters — who are national civil servants — as "the biggest headache, like a fiscal straw," while discussing the province's financial burdens.


shindw@heraldcorp.com