This article was originally posted on Jayu Press and translated by OKN Correspondent.
Former President Park Geun-hye arrived at her residence in Dalseong-gun, Daegu on the afternoon of March 24 and had prepared a statement to the public. President Park said, “I endured [my incarceration] thinking of the day when I would return to Dalseong, the place where I entered politics and the hometown of my heart,” and went on to express, “These past five years was a very unbearable time for me.”
After being discharged from the Samsung Medical Center in Irwon-dong, Seoul at around 8:32 a.m., Park visited the Seoul National Cemetery and visited the graves of the late former President Park Chung-hee and his wife (Park Geun-hye’s parents) and headed straight to her private residence.
Arriving at her residence at around 12:15 p.m., Park issued a statement to the public for about eight minutes. Former President Park said, in front of about 5,000 supporters who gathered in front of her home, “I am so grateful that so many people came out and welcomed me warmly even though I lacked [as the president] and disappointed you all.”
Regarding her decision to set up a private residence in Dalseong-gun, “After the pardon was granted, I was deeply moved by a news article saying that the people of Dalseong stated that they will take care of me to spend the rest of my days comfortably once I got to Dalseong,” and expressed, “I thought to myself how blessed I am.”
“24 years ago, when I came to Dalseong, an unfamiliar place in 1998, it was you who embraced me from the beginning,” Park recalled, “Thanks to your support and encouragement, I was elected to the National Assembly for the first time in the by-election and even became president after four-consecutive terms as your local lawmaker.”
She said, “I’ve been to every corner of Dalseong-gun,” adding, “I’m sure my footprints are imprinted all around in the soils here at Dalseong-gun.”
“I vowed to work hard for the nation and the people as president, but there were many dreams that I have not achieved,” she said. She then emphasized, “I think the dreams I could not achieve are now up to others.”
Shortly after President Park’s remarks, attorney Yoo Young-ha, a close aide to the former president, told reporters, “Dalseong is the place where she first entered politics,” adding a comment on why she chose to live in Dalseong, “(former President Park) always thought of this place like home, so that is why she chose here.”
Regarding if she would meet with President-elect Yoon Seok-youl, he said, “We were informed by the media on President-elect Yoon’s visit, but have not been directly told,” adding, “If we are contacted, it is not up to me to answer, but if (former President) Park decides, I will inform the media.”
While revealing that former President Park’s health condition can be treated as an outpatient, he said he could not answer the outpatient issue at Samsung Medical Center due to it being personal information.
On the same day, President-elect Yoon Seok-youl expressed his inclination to visit President Park at her private residence. He also said that he plans to invite Park to the inauguration ceremony on May 10.
President-elect Yoon was the head of the special prosecutor’s investigation team into Choi Soon-sil during the 2016 impeachment. He was then appointed as chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office that indicted former President Park on corruption charges.
There were also terroristic threats against former President Park this day. A citizen who appears to be a member of the People’s Revolutionary Party (alleged supporters of socialism) threw a soju bottle at the many supporters who gathered [in front of the residence]. The soju bottle fell on the road two meters away from President Park and debris from the bottle shattered a meter away but did not directly hit the former president. After addressing the public for eight minutes, President Park entered her private residence.
The Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency arrested Lee (48), who threw the soju bottle, on the charge of assault. The police plan to investigate the details of the crime.
To read the original article in Korean, please click here.
