**Democratic Party Criticizes ‘Pouch’ Remark**
On the first day of the National Assembly confirmation hearing for Park Jang-bum, the KBS presidential candidate, on the 18th, the opposition criticized Park’s New Year interview with President Yoon Suk-yeol as a ‘distraction’ and began rigorous scrutiny. The ruling party defended Park, highlighting his journalism career and expertise. Park acknowledged and apologized for issues related to traffic law violations in a school zone and allegations of false residency.
During the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee hearing, Democratic Party member Cho In-cheol criticized Park by saying, “If Park had truly embraced journalistic integrity during the New Year interview, he should have questioned why the First Lady received luxurious gifts and if there was an intention to apologize to the public.” He continued, “He thoroughly represented the President and First Lady’s perspective, focusing only on justifying their actions through gaslighting.” Cho further accused Park of attempting to distract by framing the luxury bag controversy as “a matter of security and protocol failure,” mocking the situation as a ‘cover-up.’
In response, Park stated, “That was not the intention at all,” and clarified that there was no intention to distract in the production.
Previously, in his February New Year interview with President Yoon, Park had described the allegations surrounding First Lady Kim Keon-hee’s acceptance of luxury bags as “a so-called pouch, a small bag from a foreign company.”
Criticism of Park’s ‘pouch’ remark also emerged from within the ruling party. Lee Sang-hwi, a member of the People Power Party, remarked, “Shouldn’t you have used terms that align with the public perspective? Didn’t you use the term ‘small bag’ to downplay the incident, which led to this situation?” Park responded, “I will bear that in mind.” Nevertheless, the ruling party focused its examination on emphasizing Park’s expertise.
Meanwhile, ahead of the confirmation hearing, Park apologized for allegations regarding false residency, tax evasion related to parental exemptions, and traffic violations in school zones, admitting, “I clearly did wrong, and I apologize.”