"Salt Farm-style Politics of Boiling Down Water"
Recently, Park Yong-jin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was subjected to hostile acts by 'Gaeddal,' a strong supporter of Representative Lee Jae-myung, during a visit to Andong for a local party member event, expressed concern that "(such acts) will only make Representative Lee Jae-myung struggle more."
On the 30th, Park said on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' "I believe Representative Lee will become more distressed and his leadership will decline. Would someone who has experienced such treatment think, 'Yes, I should reflect and live differently. From now on, I should never utter a word about internal party issues again'? I don't think so," he said.
Two days earlier, Park had expressed his embarrassment on his social media (SNS) by revealing that he was subjected to hostile acts by Gaeddal in Andong. He said, "They claim themselves as party members and asked why someone who criticizes from within the Democratic Party came to Andong, as if asking, 'Where do you think this place is?' Then they said, 'You are making Representative Lee struggle more.' When I heard that, they told me not to even mention Representative Lee's name, not even in my mouth. That's what they said," he recounted.
He also tried to engage in conversation with Gaeddal at the time but was rejected. Park said, "I was glad to see them, so I kept talking with a smiling face, suggesting we talk and go in together. But they said they had nothing to say to me," adding, "They said they disliked me and just turned their body away," describing the situation.
Within the Democratic Party, voices demanding a break from the hardline fandom known as Gaeddal are growing, mainly among the non-Lee faction. However, last week's party meeting failed to adopt a related resolution. The pro-Lee faction is defending Gaeddal, saying, "Don't demonize Gaeddal."
Democratic Party lawmaker Park Yong-jin attempting to have a conversation with 'Gaeddal'. [Photo by Park Yong-jin]
The day before, Hyun Geun-taek, deputy director of the Democratic Research Institute and a pro-Lee faction member, compared the relationship between Representative Lee Jae-myung and Gaeddal to that between the singer BTS and their fandom ARMY, saying, "It's like telling BTS to cut off ARMY." Park said, "The BTS fandom does a lot of good deeds. Rather than attacking others, they try to share positive stories and perform good deeds. They are fearful that their actions might cause harm, attacks, or devaluation of the celebrities they like," adding, "If they behaved like ARMY, why would they ask Representative Lee to resign as village chief?"
Non-Lee faction lawmakers are demanding that Representative Lee also step down from his position as the head of the fandom community 'Jaemyung's Village.' Park said, "The party leader should not just post a vague statement on SNS to cover up this issue," adding, "He must continuously show his clear will and firm stance on this matter."
He said, "If you think about former President Roh Moo-hyun and Nosamo, it wasn't a one-sided relationship of just supporters and politicians. President Roh showed tension and fear toward Nosamo several times, and Nosamo maintained critical support rather than unconditional or religious-like support, as far as I know," adding, "If you just isolate yourselves, leaving only your side and keep boiling and boiling, that's like salt field politics."
Park said, "At least salt remains in salt fields. In politics, only defeat remains," adding, "If the party is dragged around by some hardline aggressive fandom, I believe the party will be trapped in a path of defeat. We must escape this salt field politics and head out to the sea to win."
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