The ruling party is entangled in mud-slinging

As the People Power Party's national convention has been characterized as a self-destructive mudslinging contest between the party leadership candidates without brakes, there are growing concerns that the party may not recover after the convention. Critics say that the key figures who are supposed to lead the rebuilding of the conservative party are instead accelerating the party's crisis, shrinking the ruling party’s room for maneuvering, especially when the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, led by its candidate, Lee Jae-myung, who is challenging for a second term as party leader, is driving legislation and even talking of impeaching President Yoon Suk Yeol.

On Thursday, the other candidate Won Hee-ryong asked candidate Han Dong-hoon on Facebook, "Will you resign from the candidacy if any of the three allegations—the Sacheon allegation, the private-public opinion forming team allegations, and the suspicion of recommending Kim Kyungyul (chairman of the Financial Supervisory Service)—are true?" Han immediately responded through his camp, saying that he would change the old matador politics of "sprinkling filth and running away as if they were urinating on the street with his party comrades.” This is interpreted as a reference to Won's 'street urination incident' 31 years ago when he was a judicial trainee.

Won launched four attack messages on this day alone, and Han launched three rebuttals and counter-attacks, engaging in mudslinging.

On the same day, Na Kyung-won also criticized Han on Channel A's YouTube program "Political Signal" for describing First Lady Kim's text message controversy as "the president intervening in party affairs," saying that he is "laying the groundwork for the impeachment of the president." "The person who criminally prosecuted former President Park Geun-hye was then-special prosecutor Han Dong-hoon," Na said, adding, "Isn't he endangering the administration to save his own life, and isn't it a threat to the President?"


Jun-Il Kim jikim@donga.com