Ahn Cheol-soo on the 'Minjung Party Color Theft' Controversy... People Party Says "The People Will Decide"

Minjung Party: "How Is This Different from Corporate Bullying?"
An's 'Green' Controversy During the People's Party Era

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] The People's Party (tentative name), led by former lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo, has been embroiled in a controversy over 'party color theft.' This is because the orange color of the People's Party is already being used by the Minjung Party, a parliamentary party. The Minjung Party is strongly opposing this, calling it "orange color hijacking."

Lee Eun-hye, spokesperson for the Minjung Party, criticized in a briefing on the 12th, saying, "The People's Party says it will use orange as its party color," and added, "Even though the Minjung Party, a parliamentary party, has been using this color for three years, they unilaterally decided and declared it without any consultation or understanding."

Lee said, "The Minjung Party was very embarrassed but first tried to persuade through dialogue. Yesterday, Lee Sang-gyu, the Minjung Party's standing representative, proposed a meeting regarding the issue with former lawmaker Ahn," and added, "However, Ahn's side refused, saying, 'The Minjung Party uses orange, but we use orange color. A meeting between representatives over such a matter is unnecessary.'"

Lee added, "Even children's storybooks say that orange is orange color," and said, "It is awkward to tell former lawmaker Ahn, who insists they are different, to go back and retake elementary school art classes."

Lee stated, "The Minjung Party has built the party from the ground up over the past three years with the sweat and blood of its members. The People's Party's hijacking of the orange color is like a large conglomerate invading a small merchant's established market," and criticized, "Using the fame of 'Ahn Cheol-soo' to snatch the image nurtured by a small party?how is that different from corporate bullying? Is that the fairness that former lawmaker Ahn was talking about?"

Lee said, "Orange has been the representative symbolic color of progressives from the Democratic Labor Party to the Minjung Party," and added, "Seeing former lawmaker Ahn taking the green from the Green Party during the People's Party era and now taking the orange from the Minjung Party, I suspect this is a decision for progressive cosplay rather than genuine intent."

In fact, this is not the first time former lawmaker Ahn's party color has been controversial. When founding the People's Party in 2016, Ahn also chose green, the symbolic color of the Green Party. At that time, the Green Party stated, 'Whether the People's Party uses green or not, the places they stand are different, so the scenery is different as well.'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The People's Party also responded. Jang Ji-hoon, deputy spokesperson of the People's Party Founding Preparation Committee, said in a statement that day, "Just as words like future and democracy that represent a party's orientation are not the property of a specific party, the party color that represents a party's orientation is also not the property of a specific party," and added, "The choice and judgment should be made by the people."

Deputy spokesperson Jang said, "If there is such a thing as party color hijacking, why don't the Green Party, the Party for Democracy and Peace, and the New Alternatives fight over similar party colors?" and said, "Colors are not the property of a specific party but belong to the people."