“Shouldn’t I find my own way to reclaim my honor?” Is Cho-kuk hinting at a bid in the parliamentary elections?

“I am on trial right now, and I am trying my best to present my case legally. But if this is not accepted, then won’t I have to look for a way to reclaim my honor in a non-legal way?” asked former Justice Minister Cho Kuk when speaking on a possible bid in the 22nd parliamentary elections Monday. He seemed open to the possibility of running in next year’s general elections.

Cho made the remark on November 6, when he appeared on the YouTube show, Kim Eo-jun’s Gyeomson (modesty)-Is-Nothing News Factory, adding, “If a person’s explanation or attempt at vindication was not accepted by the current legal system, he has the instinct to vindicate himself through non-legal means, such as cultural, social and political methods, and that is the right of the citizen.”

“My family has been slaughtered,” he continued and said, “My family and I tried to present various explanations, appeals and attempts at vindication in legal terms, but many were not accepted, for which I very much regret and feel sorry.” The former justice minister was sentenced to two years in prison in his first trial for irregularities in his daughter’s college admissions and obstruction of a Cheongwadae inspection, and his appeal trial is currently underway.

As for the controversial change in the end-point of the Seoul-Yangpyeong expressway, Cho said, “Before we discuss the legal issue, what would be happening now if the land in Gangsang-myeon (in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi) belonged to Kim Jung-sook or Kim Hye-kyung? They would have conducted a search and seizure.” “President Yoon Suk-yeol advocated investigations on living (incumbent) power to enter office, but it only shows how fraudulent and bogus they are,” he argued, adding, “When changes were made to an expressway granting the first couple and their relatives great benefits, authorities should have investigated any corruption among their relatives. Hasn’t it become a national suspicion?”

Cho recently held a nationwide book concert tour for his book, Dike’s Tears, and criticized the Yoon Suk-yeol government. After he announced in June, “I will walk a pathless path,” there have been endless rumors among politicians of his bid in next year’s parliamentary elections--from a possible bid in his hometown, Busan, where support for the Democratic Party is weak, to a bid as an independent candidate in the Honam region, and the founding of a party seeking proportional representation.

The Democratic Party has mixed thoughts about Cho’s possible bid. Some claim they can’t stop him if he runs as an independent candidate, but they are concerned that he could still be a negative factor to the party in the Seoul metropolitan area even if he runs as an independent. Some also argue that the Democratic Party needs another presidential candidate other than Lee Jae-myung.