Democratic Party leader's chief of staff apologises over car in emergency-only parking

Kim Tae-seon, chief of staff to Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok, apologised on 19 October after it emerged that a vehicle that took Kim Min-seok to a firefighter's funeral hall was parked in a hospital's emergency-patient-only parking area. In a Facebook post, Kim Tae-seon wrote that the vehicle parked there during the visit was from the lawmaker's office and that it was "my fault", with no room for excuses under any circumstances. The post also apologised sincerely for the concern caused and said extra care would be taken so it did not happen again. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 16 ]

Kim Min-seok visited the funeral hall at Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital (순천향대 부천병원) at about 20:50 on 18 October to pay respects to firefighter Kim Jin-seok (김진석), who died fighting a factory fire in Bucheon, Gyeonggi. KBS reported that the vehicle that brought him stayed in the emergency-patient-only space for about 30 minutes. A sign there said outpatients and inpatients may not park in the lot. Chosun Ilbo noted that the hospital runs a regional emergency medical centre and that the Enforcement Rule of the Emergency Medical Service Act contains provisions on dedicated parking for such centres. [ 1 , 3 , 7 , 10 ]

Newsis reported that other vehicles of the delegation also parked in the same area, and that staff who appeared to be hospital employees removed no-parking cones before Kim arrived. It said the car that dropped Kim off left the space at about 21:20 and waited for him. Kyunghyang Shinmun reported, citing KBS, that hospital officials were seen pointing to the space and guiding parking just before Kim arrived. [ 7 , 12 ]

The Democratic Party said Kim Min-seok travelled in his chief of staff's car instead of his own escort vehicle because of a Busan schedule. Party spokesperson Shin Hyun-young (신현영) said on Facebook that the car was parked in the area on a hospital official's guidance after Kim and the chief of staff got out. Shin said the driver did not know the space was for emergency patients and that, had the driver known, the driver would not have followed the parking guidance. According to Shin, the driver learned this later through a call, and the car moved to the hospital's underground car park within 30 minutes. Shin added that the party failed to observe principles on site, would be more careful in future appearances, and apologised to the public, press, hospital staff, medical personnel and patients. [ 7 , 11 , 12 , 15 , 16 , 18 ]

Outlets linked the episode to an earlier controversy. On 15 October Kim Min-seok interrupted a singer's performance at a festival in Sunchang to give an opening speech, and he later apologised for the inconvenience. Chosun Ilbo also reported that his early-morning visit to a Seoul fire station in late September had drawn criticism afterwards. It said the People Power Party said arrogance had gone beyond limits, and a Seoul Economic Daily headline on 20 October described opposition attacks over what it called a parking privilege. [ 10 , 12 , 21 , 24 ]