Rep. Kim Hyun of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy apologized Wednesday for a recent assault case involving family members of the victims of the April 16 ferry disaster after the police questioned her as a witness.
The case took place last Wednesday after Kim and five members of the bereaved families met at a restaurant in western Seoul. They got into a scuffle with a substitute driver, who was angry about having to wait outside for a long time, and two other citizens who tried to stop the fight.
“I would like to extend my apologies to the people and the families of the victims,” she told reporters after she was questioned by the police for some eight hours. “I feel very sorry that I failed to prevent such an incident, and I hope that the families are not further hurt by this incident.”
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| Rep. Kim Hyun of the main opposition party the New Politics Alliance for Democracy speaks to the press Wednesday at a police station in western Seoul after being questioned over a recent assault case. (Yonhap) |
The police said that they investigated her to see if she agitated the driver by talking down to him or using insulting words. Kim insisted that she did not remember or witness what had happened, the police said. Kim previously said that she was at the scene of the incident, but failed to see the scuffle.
According to the police, the 52-year-old driver stated that the families of the Sewol victims assaulted him after he expressed his frustration to the lawmaker for having to wait for some 30 minutes outside the restaurant.
The police reportedly confirmed the family members’ involvement in the assault case through their analysis of surveillance cameras installed at the scene. But some of them continued to deny their involvement.
On Thursday, the police plan to question the family members and three witnesses to confirm their assault charges.
Regarding the families’ nighttime meeting, some observers raised the question of why Kim had to meet the family members at night. Some argued that Kim was trying to maintain cozy ties with the bereaved families to secure political support from them.
Kim’s party has been in favor of the early passage of the special Sewol bill, which has roiled political circles for months as it seeks to offer considerable investigative powers to a special probe panel tasked with clarifying the cause of the ferry sinking.
The government and the ruling Saenuri Party are opposed to granting the panel the right to investigate and indict those responsible, arguing that it could set a precedent that goes against the country’s investigation and prosecution system.
By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)
