President-elect Park Geun-hye’s chief spokesman apologized Tuesday amid mounting controversy over his sharp criticism of liberal politicians.

Monday’ appointment of Yoon Chang-jung, an ultra-rightist political pundit, triggered angry reactions from the main opposition party. Critics said the first announcement of her transition team threatened to unravel her campaign promise for national unity and deepen the already polarized electorate.

“I feel sorry and humbled by those who have been hurt by me, what I have written and what I have said on TV,” Yoon told reporters at Saenuri Party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul.

Yoon, 56, who has regularly appeared on cable news, is best known for his lopsided political view and a foul mouth. He shot down everyone and anyone ― including respected conservative elders ― who strayed from the conservative base with sensational language.

He also wrote online columns in feverish support of Park’s campaign and profanity-laced condemnation of her rivals.

“I will do all my best to help realize President-elect Park’s governing philosophy of unifying the people, and becoming a president who follows through on promises and heeds the daily hardships of the people.”

He dismissed criticism that his writing was skewed in favor of one side of the political spectrum.

“It would not be objective to say that I have leaned towards a particular side,” he added.

Examining the columns he wrote over the past 14 years will show that he has not represented a particular side, and he has even been critical of Park at times, he stressed.

He added that it would not be appropriate to mechanistically measure the number of times his columns have been favorable to conservative administrations and critical to liberal administrations.

In the run-up to the Dec. 19 presidential election, Yoon called elder conservatives such as Kim Duk-ryong, the former floor leader of the conservative Grand National Party, and Yoon Yeo-joon, who once advised the two-term GNP presidential candidate Lee Hoi-chang, “political prostitutes” in a column for the New Daily, an ultra-right-wing online newspaper, for endorsing opposition candidate Moon Jae-in.

The basis for the accusation was that the motivating factor behind their endorsement was their vying for top government posts in the event of Moon’s victory.

He also included Chung Un-chan, the Princeton-educated Keynesian economist who served as prime minister under President Lee Myung-bak, and Kim Hyun-cheol, the son of former President Kim Young-sam, in the list of “political prostitutes” for the same crime of supporting Moon.

The opposition Democratic United Party immediately denounced the decision and demanded that Park cancel the appointment. One spokesman of the party compared him to Paul Joseph Goebbels who orchestrated Nazi propaganda under Adolf Hitler.

“I tried to say the least (regarding Monday’s appointments) as they were the president-elect’s first appointment package. But I cannot keep my silence on appointing Yoon Chang-jung to the position of chief spokesperson, which is responsible for conveying to the people the president-elect’s governing philosophy and intentions,” Jung Sung-ho, a DUP spokesperson, told reporters in a press briefing at the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Jeong described Yoon as the epitome of biased journalism as he “went back and forth between the press and the political arenas,” and holds “far-right and ultra conservative values who has spoken and acted in extremist, divisive manners.”

Park Yong-jin, another DUP spokesperson, charged that Yoon has engaged in serious activities of sectionalism by describing candidate Moon Jae-in as an anti-South Korean force and has incited public opinion by describing the people who supported candidate Moon as forces who would subvert the country.

The appointment has also raised eyebrows even within the president-elect’s own party and supporters in the media.

Several Saenuri Party officials said they have been “taken aback” by the appointment. The president-elect reportedly made the decision in complete secrecy, informing her party officials 20 minutes before the official announcement.

“Honestly, I am dumbfounded (by the president-elect’s appointment). Starting from the very first appointment, the button has been wrongly fixed,” a “pro-Park” loyalist party official was quoted as saying.

Park Sun-kyu, former Park campaign spokesman who was tapped Monday as a spokesperson for the transition committee, said that he became aware of the appointment “10 minutes before it broke out as breaking news.”

Critics have said the president-elect does not heed diverse opinions and channels regarding personnel appointments, leading to a decision far removed from public opinion.

The most outspoken among a few supporters of the appointment has been the chief spokesman appointee himself.

“I made the decision (to accept the appointment) after seriously struggling over it. I tried to say no,” he wrote on his blog.

“I hesitated until my mouth became dry, but considering how it was President-elect Park’s first personnel appointment, it was very difficult to refuse.”

By Samuel Songhoon Lee (songhoon@heraldcorp.com)