Jin Joong-kwon "Democratic Party Support Decline? Feedback System Is Broken"

United Future Party 36.5% vs Democratic Party 33.4%... Support Reversal
"Does the President's Approval Rate Need to Fall Below Party Support to Change?"

Jin Joong-kwon, former professor at Dongyang University / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] Following the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, a public opinion poll showed for the first time that the support rate for the United Future Party surpassed that of the Democratic Party of Korea. In response, former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon sharply criticized the Democratic Party, saying, "The feedback system is already broken."

On the 13th, Jin posted on his Facebook, stating, "The party has completely lost its ability to self-correct. The warning lights are on, but they have completely lost their sense of reality."

Jin criticized, "The pro-Moon hardline faction holds the party's hegemony and receives support from pro-Moon hardline supporters. The remaining lawmakers have become bureaucrat-like officials who only watch these hardliners without any conviction."

He continued, "Even those who used to voice criticism change their words after running for office and are busy flattering these pro-Moon hardliners. Internal self-criticism within the party has become systemically impossible. Then they should at least listen to criticism from outside the party, but those who speak out are collectively labeled as 'Tochak Waegu' (native Japanese collaborators) by the supporters and are 'seasoned' with harsh attacks, creating an atmosphere where no one dares to speak even if they have something to say."

He added, "Even when I pointed out this totalitarian atmosphere, they simply do not understand. The so-called intellectuals have all taken their seats or formed dirty collusive relationships with those who have, defending such behavior. They reduce issues of truth and good and evil to matters of winning or losing a war and provide cover fire for those actions. Course correction is impossible, and it will continue like this."

Jin said, "In the past, the Saenuri Party collapsed due to pro-Park nominations, and the Democratic Party is following that path with a pro-Moon-only approach. They are barely holding on with the presidential aura reflected from former President Roh Moo-hyun, but even that moonlight is fading and discoloring, so it won't last long."

He questioned, "Will they change only when the president's approval rating falls below the party's support rate? Judging by the recent behavior of the Democratic Party, that seems unlikely. The party's nature has already transformed into a quasi-totalitarian system, so the more they face crises, the more extreme they will become."

He added, "The Saenuri Party had pro-Park and at least some pro-factions, but the Democratic Party has no 'forces' other than pro-Moon. Even the presidential candidates are busy flattering pro-Moon to get their approval. It seems difficult to innovate the party around the next generation."

Meanwhile, according to a poll conducted by Realmeter commissioned by TBS from the 10th to the 12th, surveying 1,507 voters nationwide, the support rates for the Democratic Party and the United Future Party were 33.4% and 36.5%, respectively. Although the gap of 3.1 percentage points is within the margin of error, the United Future Party surpassed the Democratic Party for the first time since its founding.

President Moon's approval rating for state affairs stands at 43.3%, while negative evaluations of his administration rose by 0.1 percentage points from last week to 52.5%.