To the Commissioner

Governor Choo Mi-ae is facing controversy after stating during the Gyeonggi-do National Audit that "the fire service feels like the biggest fiscal straw sucking up resources."
Representative Kim Min-seok stated, "We have requested in various ways that the party involved should apologize. The party already officially requested early on that an apology would be appropriate."
Governor Choo Mi-ae apologized, saying, "I had absolutely no intention of disparaging firefighters. Since you are requesting an apology, I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart. I deeply regret if my words were conveyed differently from my intentions."
Looking at the chronological order above, the expression "Since you are requesting an apology" seems to be directed at Representative Kim Min-seok.
However, since the target of the apology is the firefighters, it was indeed a slip of the tongue.
While the expression "fiscal straw" could at least be explained away, saying she is apologizing only because they are requesting it makes it difficult to offer any excuse.
Rather than providing cover for her choice of words, the fact that a fellow party leader was the first to mention an apology must have been incredibly infuriating.
I fully understand.
I hope you can exercise more restraint in the future, no matter what.
This was something that could have ended with a simple explanation, but instead, she apologized in that manner, leading to a bad outcome. It is truly unfortunate.