"Third-Party Harm" "Yabawi Politics"... People Power Party Leadership Fiercely Criticizes Democratic Party's 'Nomination Reversal'

Kim Jong-in "Nomination push is the third harm to Park Won-soon's victims"
Joo Ho-young "Overturned without reasonable cause... President Moon should clarify his position"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] On the 1st, the leadership of the People Power Party launched a barrage of criticism against the Democratic Party of Korea, which is pushing for nominations in next year's by-elections for the Seoul and Busan mayoral offices, overturning the party constitution's 'no nomination' rule.

Kim Jong-in, the emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, pointed out at an emergency press briefing held that day, "I hope you keep in mind that immediately withdrawing the nomination for the by-elections is the minimum courtesy and common sense toward the victims and the public."

Chairman Kim particularly emphasized the sexual harassment allegations against former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, stating, "Although much time has passed since the unfortunate death and incident, nothing has been clearly revealed," and fiercely criticized, "Because this is a power-related sexual assault case involving a prominent figure of the Democratic Party, the tacit intent of the Blue House and the ruling party to politically cover it up has played a role."

He added, "Despite public opposition, the Democratic Party's push for nominations while continuing large-scale memorial events for the perpetrator constitutes a third wave of harm to the victims," and said, "This is a case where reason and conscience have been paralyzed by factional logic. It's utterly outrageous."

Chairman Kim said, "What the Democratic Party should do now is to deeply apologize to the victims and the public," and criticized President Moon Jae-in as well, saying, "Not uttering a single word about the power-related sexual assault by Democratic Party-affiliated Seoul and Busan mayors is a deliberate silence and itself a second wave of harm."

He urged, "Please clarify your exact position on the incident even now," and sharpened his tone, "Please clearly state your stance before the public on whether you agree with the Democratic Party's attempt to amend the party constitution, which was established in 2015 (when Moon Jae-in was the party leader), to overturn it."

Joo Ho-young, the floor leader, also joined the criticism at the press briefing that day.

At the event, he targeted the Democratic Party by showing statements from President Moon Jae-in and Democratic Party lawmakers from the past, who said, "If a by-election is held due to the wrongdoing of a party-affiliated public official, no candidate should be fielded."

Floor Leader Joo criticized, "Five years ago, in the re-election for the mayor of Goseong County, Gyeongnam, which cost the residents tens of billions of won, does President Moon know how much the by-elections for the Seoul and Busan mayoral offices next year will cost?" He added, "The election costs of 57.1 billion won for the Seoul mayoral election and 26.7 billion won for the Busan mayoral election, totaling 83.8 billion won, will be borne by the citizens of Seoul and Busan."

He said sharply, "Who made the Democratic Party's party constitution that states no candidate should be recommended in a by-election if a party-affiliated elected official loses their position due to a serious wrongdoing? And which party has pledged to stake its leadership position and legislate this party constitution?" He added, "They are evading responsibility for their own words and shifting the blame through a rigged party member vote."

Floor Leader Joo urged President Moon to clarify his position, emphasizing, "He must answer the six questions from the victim of the Park Won-soon incident." He added, "Forcing this without answers is not only a second and third wave of harm but also trampling on the victimized woman, intending to silence and overlook the matter by force."

He raised his voice, saying, "Nowadays, companies cannot sustain themselves without ethical management," and warned, "I caution the Democratic Party to stop hypocritical politics and deceptive politics."