Kim Yong-tae, who was appointed as the chair of the People Power Party's emergency response committee, apologized on the 12th for the emergency martial law situation on December 3 and the subsequent chaos under former President Yoon Suk-yeol.
During a meeting of the central election campaign committee held in the National Assembly that day, Kim noted, "The martial law declared by the president produced by the People Power Party was wrong, and the party itself failed to hold the president accountable for their misconduct. We must acknowledge as a mistake that we did not achieve genuine cooperative politics with the president before such martial law occurred," adding, "As a young conservative politician, I deeply reflect and apologize."
Presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo appointed Kim as his successor to Kwon Young-se, who resigned in light of the unprecedented candidate replacement crisis the previous day. Kim stepped forward first amid pressure from within and outside the party for him to apologize for the emergency martial law situation.
Kim stated, "What is important for the People Power Party now is communication, reform, and unity," while emphasizing, "The core of communication that we must pursue is the courage to acknowledge facts for what they are, and to understand differing opinions without vilifying each other, thus overcoming the barriers of confrontation with tolerance."
He noted, "Both citizens who supported the impeachment and those who opposed it have their own patriotism and sincerity," adding, "I will put down the memories of the torment of the past five months and create a politics that truly saves the nation and the people."
Kim also remarked, "The path of political reform we must take goes beyond adversarial political confrontations themselves," pointing out, "Conservatives will pursue democracy that communicates and deliberates for the public good, rather than being driven by divisive populist majority rule, and we will achieve a constitutional reform for a seventh republic that designs a cooperative government to solve national challenges."
He further stated, "Unity is a 'big solidarity' to protect a sound democratic community from populist politics that entice citizens," adding, "Those who have been excluded or hurt in conservative politics, those who seek the same common sense and values even with different roots, and those who acknowledge their mistakes and act responsibly will now come together to create a new Republic of Korea."
He also added, "During this very short election period, I will present a vision for conservative reform and the victorious campaign of candidate Kim Moon-soo with surprising speed and flexibility through young leadership."
Kim will be officially appointed as the chair of the emergency response committee following the national committee's vote on the 15th. Born in 1990, he is the youngest member of the party and a first-term member who was elected in the 22nd general election representing Pocheon and Gapyeong in Gyeonggi Province.