Rep. Park Jie-won of the Democratic Party of Korea said Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae was "talking nonsense" with her remark describing fire services as a "drain" on local finances. He added that while the matter does not warrant formal disciplinary action by the party, the leadership should at least issue a warning.
Park made the comments on the 19th on SBS Radio's "Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show," saying, "If you are going to apologize, do it cleanly. Saying 'I will apologize since you are telling me to' only gave critics something to seize on." He criticized the governor further, saying, "She is already unpopular, and the Democratic Party is in a position where it can neither kill her off nor save her."
On calls within the party for disciplinary measures, Park said, "I get a lot of texts and calls saying she should be expelled from the party, or that we should launch a recall vote," but added, "I doubt it will go that far." Still, he said, "I think the leadership should at least issue a warning," adding, "The party needs to maintain discipline, and in the end it is President Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party that lose out from a mistake like this." He advised Choo to "express it sincerely one more time and say, 'That was not what I truly meant.'"
On the underlying fiscal issue that triggered the controversy, however, Park sided with the governor. "Firefighters are in fact national civil servants, but all the budget has been handed over to local governments, which creates problems with equipment and the like," he said. "Seoul and Gyeonggi are better off, but in rural local and provincial governments such as Jeollanam-do (South Jeolla Province), there are enormous disparities. What Governor Choo is saying is right."
Asked about strategy toward Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de, over whose impeachment the party is divided, Park said, "I am also arguing strongly that we should impeach him," adding, "There are more than enough grounds for impeachment."