Cho Kuk: "Criticism and ridicule toward the Innovation Party show no courtesy"
Jung Choongsaeng: "Lee Eonju changed party affiliation seven times... it makes your head spin"
The war of nerves between the Democratic Party of Korea and the Cho Kuk Innovation Party over a potential merger is spreading into a round of harsh, personal attacks. When Democratic Party Supreme Council member Lee Eonju opposed a merger on the grounds that the Democratic Party could become a mere “host,” the Innovation Party hit back in unison by listing Lee’s “frequent party-switching history.”
Lee Eonju, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party of Korea, watches with an intense gaze at the National Assembly on the 2nd during a Supreme Council meeting as Representative Jeong Cheongrae speaks about the meaning of his proposal to merge with Joguk Hyeoksindang and the future course of action. Photo by Yonhap News
On the 5th, Choongsaeng Jung, a lawmaker of the Innovation Party, took aim at Supreme Council member Lee on his social media, saying, “Haven’t you been practicing host politics since you first entered politics in 2012?” He went on, “Stop insulting Representative Cho Kuk and the Innovation Party. Was it the Innovation Party that proposed the merger?”
The previous day, at the party’s Supreme Council meeting, Supreme Council member Lee had opposed a merger between the Democratic Party and the Innovation Party, arguing, “Among Democratic Party supporters, there is already talk that ‘our Democratic Party is being used as a host for one particular person’s presidential game,’ and that ‘she has started staking out territory for herself.’”
In response, Representative Jung, who previously served as a party official in the Democratic Party, wrote out Lee’s record of changing party affiliation seven times - from the Democratic United Party, to the People’s Party, to the Bareun Mirae Party, to the Advancement Party, to the United Future Party, to the People Power Party, and then to the Democratic Party of Korea - and remarked, “I have gone through, one by one, the hosts that were used by Representative Lee,” adding, “At this level, you have been going on a political shopping spree. It makes your head spin how you cross back and forth between left and right.”
On the same day, Innovation Party lawmaker Jang Shinsik also appeared on the CBS Radio program “Park Sungtae’s News Show” and said, “It is Lee Eonju, more than anyone, who is most adept at using political parties as a host for her politics,” adding, “Her party affiliation has changed about seven or eight times.” He continued, “When the original holder of the core technology of using political parties as a host makes such remarks, it is quite unusual and baffling,” and criticized her by saying, “Isn’t this an insult?”
Meanwhile, Cho Kuk, leader of the Innovation Party, said at a Supreme Council meeting held at the Busan Port International Passenger Terminal on the same day, “Within the Democratic Party, which proposed (the merger), there is intense discord, and in the process, criticism and ridicule are being directed at the Innovation Party and at me,” adding, “In the course of the Democratic Party’s internal debate, there is no sign of courtesy toward a friendly party. They are spinning conspiracy theories built on layer upon layer of imagination.”
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