Ha Tae-kyung "Said to Mourn Kim Jong-il"... Justice Party "How Long Will You Keep Using Colorism?"

Ha Tae-kyung "High Expectations with New Party Leader, But As Expected"
Justice Party "Party Didn't Exist Then... Do a Fact Check First"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] On the 26th, Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the People Power Party, criticized the Justice Party by saying, "The Justice Party, which once suggested paying respects to Kim Jong-il, the former Chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea, now refuses to pay respects to Lee Kun-hee, the Chairman of Samsung." In response, the Justice Party retorted, "How long do you intend to live off of colorism?"

On the same day, Ha stated on Facebook, "The Justice Party judges that the life of an economic leader who transformed a poor country into a prosperous one by creating the world's number one company is less valuable than Kim Jong-il, who made the country the poorest in the world."

Ha added, "This means that the national values the Justice Party pursues are not about making the country prosperous," and said, "There was great expectation when the leader of the Justice Party changed, but what was feared has indeed come true."

The Justice Party immediately rebutted. Kim Dong-gyun, deputy spokesperson of the Justice Party, stated in a commentary that "Ha made another baseless claim today," and clarified, "The Justice Party did not exist at the time of Kim Jong-il's death in December 2011."

Deputy Spokesperson Kim said, "If you want to slander, first check the facts properly," and added, "We hope you stop trying to disparage the Justice Party by clinging to colorism. Moreover, bringing up Lee Kun-hee's condolence issue in the context of colorism is nothing less than disrespecting the deceased," sharply criticizing Ha.