[INTERVIEW] Minor presidential candidate reveals wildest dreams

Huh Kyung-young speaks during an interview with a YouTube media outlet at the National Revolutionary Party's headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, Feb. 23. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

If elected, Huh Kyung-young vows to appoint top four candidates as honorary vice presidents, reshuffle National Assembly

By Ko Dong-hwan

Huh Kyung-young, candidate No. 6 in the March 9 presidential election in Korea, is determined to shake up the current presidential cabinet and the National Assembly ― whether or not it will actually work out.

Displeased with the top four presidential candidates from the major parties, Huh, founder and president of the National Revolutionary Party, criticized all of them for different reasons during his interview with The Korea Times. However, it was unclear whether he was unhappy with them because he believes they all fall short of his expectations, or because he is jealous and dissatisfied with his ratings in public opinion surveys that have sagged behind theirs.

"Yoon Suk-yeol investigated and imprisoned innocent allies of former President Park Geun-hye," said Huh, referring to the People Power Party (PPP) candidate who had, in 2017 as chief prosecutor, pursued corruption charges against Park and her longtime confidant Choi Soon-sil.

He believes Park is innocent and shouldn't have been impeached. "When the person who was in charge of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and put Park behind bars suddenly pops up to become the country's president, I think that person must be challenged legally somehow. It's a chronic problem with public officials in this country ― not just prosecutors but also judges ― that they announce their presidential bids out of the blue. People cannot help but have doubts about them."

Huh made a particularly hair-raising claim against Yoon during a Feb. 22 TV debate for eight of the minor presidential candidates, excluding the four leading candidates. He said that if Yoon is elected, he will become a brain-dead president in four months and will be impeached by the PPP's rival, the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). "Isn't that obvious? I will then have to run for president again. But instead of waiting until then, I would rather get elected this time."

He also had doubts about DPK candidate Lee Jae-myung over Lee's alleged involvement in a controversial urban development project in Seongnam's Daejang-dong ― a case that has persisted for months without prosecutors proving the allegations. "We haven't even found whether he is a criminal or not, and still he was given the chance to run for president. This election is full of doubts and people are very uncomfortable watching their campaigns."

As for Sim Sang-jung of the minor progressive Justice Party, Huh did not hesitate to complain about TV broadcasters and the National Election Commission excluding him from TV debates reserved for the leading presidential candidates, yet making room for Sim instead, even though her public support rating in some polls had been behind his in the past. His rating stayed between five percent and six percent for weeks in December and January, while Sim's was below three percent during the same period. The situation, however, didn't last, as Sim has since outpaced Huh.

Huh Kyung-young sits behind his desk at the National Revolutionary Party's headquarters during an interview with The Korea Times. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

"I don't see why I need to even bother talking about her," Huh said, still ruminating about the moments in which he was ahead of her in public support rating polls. "Journalism in this country is so unfair, rigging me out of the competition when I was ahead of her."

The public has already given up on Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition People's Party, Huh said. "His chances (of becoming president) are irreparably slim now. People got tired of him as well as Sim. Look at their public ratings. They are almost static."

The fantastical, buffoonish figure is running for his third presidential bid this year and said that if he gets elected, he will appoint the big-four candidates as honorary vice presidents in his administration, based on what he called a "multi-government system." But what will happen in the event that they refuse to participate in his fantasy world, as let alone the 300 lawmakers of the National Assembly? He has a plan ― involving money.

"I will issue an economic martial law to declare that the country's political institutions are shut down, and then I will send all the lawmakers to a mental correctional facility," Huh said. "During the political vacuum, I will keep the economy running and citizens happy by distributing to each of them an emergency subsidy of 100 million won ($83,000) plus an additional 1.5 million won per month. No doubt people will support my reining in of the lawmakers. Then the country will have a general election to elect 100 new lawmakers who will serve the public for free and support my policies."

Huh's policies hinge on securing hundreds of trillions of won of national budget funds via an extreme restructuring of government finances ― saving 70 percent of state spending, putting all local taxes under state taxes, strictly banning high-income earners from tax evasion and setting the amount of penalty fines in relation to one's level of wealth (the same crime will weigh heavier on those who are richer with greater fines). He wants to return all of the saved money to the people in various one-time or monthly subsidies, like a 1.5 million won ($1,247) monthly subsidy for all citizens aged 18 or older, 300 million won for newly married couples, 1 million won every month for childcare until age 10, and 50 million won for families with newborns.

"Korea will be a listed company and citizens its shareholders, so we must distribute their share of the money," Huh said. "Us doling out money to people won't raise any moral issues, as some worry. Instead, we are giving them freedom from financial concerns so that they can work happily and live without worrying about living in poverty."

Huh waves goodbye from the elevator after finishing an interview at his party's headquarters. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

'Problematic' Moon administration

To Huh, not only are the lawmakers of the country's two biggest parties ― the PPP and DPK ― a sham, but so is the Moon Jae-in administration. The 74-year-old presidential hopeful discredits everything done by the current government.

"I never liked the Moon administration's real estate policies," Huh said, referring to one of the country's most pressing issues dogging not just the incumbent but also the leading candidates. "I will get rid of the property tax, the capital gains tax and all the other real estate taxes. I will allow real estate prices to fluctuate strictly within a range of market price increases. That will change the country's currently unstable real estate market."

Huh viewed that nuclear power plants are a source of clean energy and said the country must follow in the footsteps of Europe, which has categorized nuclear power as a green energy source in its EU Taxonomy. The Moon administration's nuclear phase-out policy was wrongheaded, he added. "If we expand nuclear power generation in Korea to replace coal-firing power plants, air pollution will be reduced by about 7 percent from now," he assured.

He also emphasized that the country must embrace China, Japan and the United States with a multilaterally friendly diplomatic stance. He argued that Moon had failed with such efforts, especially with China, after it slammed Korea in 2016 for installing the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province. "Look at the major street markets in Dongdaemun, Namdaemun and Myeong-dong now. They are all dead because there are not as many Chinese tourists as there used to be following the THAAD issue." (He neglected to mention that the slowdown in these market areas is partly a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting social distancing measures.)

As to the Moon administration's quarantine measures and economic compensation policies for small-to-medium business operators amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Huh said that the current government's efforts to save the small business sector aren't enough. "I will compensate them 100 percent. All delinquent borrowers will be cleared of their debt."

Huh ended by saying that quarantining will be "meaningless" under his administration because it is ineffective, as proven by the soaring number of daily infection cases in the country, which skyrocketed to above 170,000 last week and continued to hover above the figure this week. "Social distancing measures must be abolished. The cash-strapped business operators must live on."