Kukim Withdraws Appointment of Ham Ik-byeong as Co-Chief of Election Committee... "Decision to Be Made After Committee Review and Consultation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] On the 5th, the People Power Party withdrew the appointment of doctor Ham Ik-byeong as a co-chief of the election campaign committee.

Lee Yang-su, the chief spokesperson, announced through a press release to reporters that night, "The appointment of Ham as co-chief of the election campaign committee announced today was withdrawn after the campaign committee reviewed the issues raised by the media and consulted with him."

Regarding the controversy over Ham's past remarks, Lee had previously stated in a media notice, "The decision will be postponed until there is a sufficient explanation from him and public acceptance of it."

Earlier, Ham was embroiled in controversy after it was revealed that in a past interview, he made remarks that could be seen as endorsing dictatorship and suggested that the rights of women who do not serve in the military should be restricted.

In a March 2014 interview with Monthly Chosun, Ham said, "Since women do not have the obligation of national defense, I think they should exercise only three-quarters of the rights," and added, "If they want to enjoy rights without duties, they are worse than thieves. Among major countries in the world with military service obligations, Korea, Taiwan, and Israel, Korea is the only one that exempts women."

Ham also stated, "Why is dictatorship wrong? Plato also advocated dictatorship. A properly educated philosopher ruling alone is true one-man dictatorship," and added, "The idea that dictatorship is always bad is also a dogma. The purpose of politics is to find a way for the greatest number of people to be happiest."

These past remarks by Ham sparked immediate criticism both inside and outside the political sphere. Cho Seung-rae, chief spokesperson of the Democratic Party’s election campaign committee, said in a written briefing, "They have recruited a dictator admirer who fits perfectly with candidate Yoon Seok-yeol’s political view, who said dictator Jeon Du-hwan 'did well in politics,'" and criticized, "He is a delusional person trapped in the illusion of a 'good dictatorship,' sharing the same governance view as candidate Yoon. However, the people are not subjects of governance but sovereigns."

Shin Hyun-young, spokesperson for the election campaign committee, commented, "Candidate Yoon Seok-yeol, who used to write the character '왕 (king)' on his hand, seems to have liked Ham Ik-byeong’s archaic claim to restrict women’s voting rights," and added, "Candidate Yoon should immediately dismiss Ham, not just 'postpone' his appointment, and apologize to women in their 20s and 30s."

Lawmaker Lee Tan-hee from the same party also criticized on social media, "What kind of country are candidate Yoon Seok-yeol and representative Lee Jun-seok preparing to build by appointing someone who denies the spirit of the constitution as co-chief of the election campaign committee?"