Kang Jun-wook, the National Integration Secretary of the Presidential Office who advocated for the 12·3 martial law and expressed resentment towards President Lee Jae-myung, issued an apology. Earlier, in his book published this year, Kang criticized President Lee's rule, saying it would become 'a strong, fear-driven, totalitarian and self-righteous regime.'
In a statement on the 20th, Kang said, 'I have caused deep wounds to the people who have suffered under martial law for several months with the contents and expressions in my book,' and expressed, 'I sincerely apologize.'
He added, 'I believe the wounds and discomfort caused to the people will be difficult to resolve with any excuses,' and said, 'Even now, I will do my best to fulfill the President's will to embrace and unify the people who are divided by generations, classes, and ideologies based on thorough reflection.'
In his book published this year titled 'The Democracy of Barbarism,' Kang claimed that the martial law declared by former President Yoon Suk-yeol on 12·3 is 'a non-democratic form of resistance against a democratic outrage,' asserting that 'the act of framing the presidential authority to declare martial law as a coup d'état is nothing more than propaganda that equates 'martial law = coup.'
He continued, 'I define the President's martial law as a non-democratic form of resistance against the opposition's democratic outrage,' and stated, 'The numerous outrages that occurred prior to martial law were accepted as if they were a natural occurrence in the name of democracy, while martial law is regarded as something that must be condemned, illustrating how deeply rooted the public consciousness of 'democratization = righteousness' is.'
Regarding President Lee, he wrote, 'Regardless of personal preferences, whether he is a criminal or not, looking at Lee Jae-myung's actions and the way he has lived until now, there is a very strong fear that if he becomes president, it will lead to a strong, fear-driven, totalitarian and self-righteous regime.'