[Editorial] Apology is Not Enough

The Grand National Party should have reflected on itself more seriously regarding Rep. Choi Don-woong of the opposition party taking 10 billion won in bribes from SK. A word or two of apology is not enough, and the apology they made did not seem sincere. All it said was “(We) caused concerns among the public.” Considering the seriousness of the issue, the GNP leader, not a spokesman should have explained the truth and shown the party’s commitment to carry out a political reform and not to repeat the same thing again.

The party’s attitude so far was nothing more than obsolete. Rep. Choi had denied the accusations against him, and some party members even visited the prosecution’s office in opposition to the interrogations, saying that the prosecution was intentionally targeting the opposition party. When the ruling and opposition parties were suggested three months ago to reveal their presidential election campaign funds, it was the GNP that said, “There is nothing to reveal other than 22.4 billion won campaign fund which we already reported to the National Election Commission.”

There are not many options for the GNP. It should reveal the truth if it were to restore ethics as a majority party and to play a leading role in carrying out a much-needed political reform. The party should reveal not only what it had done with the 10 billion won, but also how much it raised during the last presidential election. The public thinks the GNP might also receive a large sum of money from other companies when it accepted 10 billion won from SK. It was timely for the National Election Commission to conclude that it is not unconstitutional to reveal the names of campaign donors.

Even if the party unveil the truth completely, there still remains all the suspicions surrounding former president aide Choi Do-sul’s 1.1 billion won bribery scandal and allegations of the Millennium Democratic Party raising illicit campaign funds in the runup to the last presidential election. These are completely different issues that need prosecutors’ continued investigation. The GNP vowed to mobilize a congressional investigation or a special prosecution if the ongoing investigation is not satisfactory. However, the majority party should first reveal the truth before it mobilizes the alternatives.

An opposition party’s weapon is morality. It can gain people’s support only when it is ethically more reliable than a ruling party. The GNP should ponder upon the ways to revive itself and bring forth a political reform in the whirlwind of disputes regarding the confidence vote.