A co-chair of the People Power Party's (PPP) campaign committee said Thursday the appointment of former defense minister Lee Jong-sub as ambassador to Australia came at the wrong time and called for the government's "reasonable" explanation. Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo made the remark amid a wave of criticism that Lee was appointed as ambassador and allowed to leave the country even though he has been under investigation over allegations he exercised undue influence over the military's investigation into the Marine's death. Critics have alleged that Lee's appointment amounts to helping a suspect flee overseas. "(The presidential office) may have been unaware of the travel ban, but it is regrettable because the appointment could have come after the case was cleared since Lee has been known to be subject to the investigation," Ahn said in a call with Yonhap News Agency. "We need a reasonable explanation," he said. Ahn, one of the five co-chairs of the PPP's campaign committee, added that Lee also has a duty as a pu blic servant to come back to South Korea and cooperate in the investigation whenever necessary. Ahn also urged the party to reconsider the nomination of lawyer Do Tae-woo, who has been under fire after revelations that he made remarks in 2019 suggesting the possibility of North Korea's involvement in a 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southern city of Gwangju. Following the revelations, PPP leader Han Dong-hoon requested a review of Do's nomination, but the party eventually decided to keep Do in the race, given the "sincerity" of his two apologies made after the matter surfaced. "President Yoon Suk Yeol and Chairman Han Dong-hoon vowed to include the spirit of the May 18 pro-democracy movement in the preamble of the Constitution. The sincerity of (Do's apology) is not something to be decided by the party's candidate nomination committee but by the people," Ahn said, emphasizing that Do's remark was historically inaccurate. "If history is any guide, we've experienced many crushing defeats after failing t o sternly respond to controversies. Now is the time to do that," he added. Source: Yonhap News Agency
