Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
Key aides embarrass candidates
By Kang Hyun-kyung
By Jun Ji-hye
Chung Dong-young
Senior members within the election campaigns of Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party, and Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) are facing criticism due to a string of gaffes made in recent public statements.
Their poorly chosen words have embarrassed the two leading presidential candidates, who are desperate to gain last-minute votes and are wary that last-minute factors could influence the outcome of the Wednesday ballot.
On Monday, the Park and the Moon camps asked their aides and campaign staff to watch their tongues and behavior so as not to ruin their boss’s presidential chances in the final stages of the race.
Chung Dong-young, an advisor to Moon and a former presidential candidate in 2007, triggered controversy for tweeting contentious quotes from fiction writer Seo Hae-sung, that were published in the Hankyoreh newspaper.
“In this election, every young voter’s ballot counts. Their future is up to their voting. Vote for the sake of yourselves. Don’t let old cranky people decide on your future,” Chung tweeted last Saturday.
Bloggers and Internet users swiftly spread the quote, posting it on their Twitter pages, Internet chat rooms, and the message boards of online forums. In response, a group of 10 elderly voters staged a protest in front of the DUP headquarters in Seoul Sunday, demanding that Chung retire from politics.
Chung deleted his message because of the negative fallout it caused on the Moon camp.
After this, the broadcast journalist-turned-politician posted a sarcastic message on his Twitter page. “There has been a melee online because part-time crusaders were out in full force to take advantage of my Twitter message after I posted it.
Chung’s words of crusader part-timers were construed as being directed at paid campaigners working for the Park Geun-hye camp who had spread the message to corner him and the Moon camp.
“I deleted my message because I don’t want to see unintended consequences. I’m sorry if there were any people who felt intruded upon because of my Twitter message,” Chung said.
This is not the first time that Chung has been embroiled in controversy due to a slip of the tongue.
In March 2004, another set of inappropriate remarks regarding senior voters caused him trouble and endangered his political career. He said voters in their 60s or 70s should not necessarily go out to polling stations, encouraging them not to vote. His remarks came because senior voters tended to give overwhelming support to the conservative Saenuri Party.
In the ruling party, Kim Moo-sung, campaign manager of the Park camp, was embroiled in controversy due to his remarks on undecided voters.
Having lunch with reporters last week, Kim said the Saenuri Party would benefit if those who were yet to make up their minds didn’t vote.
“I believe we’ll gain if centrist voters, who are still undecided, don’t grasp what either side is talking about during their campaigns and give up their vote,” Kim was quoted as saying.
His remarks were construed as discouraging undecided voters from casting their ballots on Wednesday.
The former lawmaker later said that he was quoted out of context. Kim said centrist voters and undecided voters feel sick and tired of negative campaigns because political mudslinging and baseless rumors are rampant with the election just around the corner.
“Their frustration could lead to a low voter turnout and this is what I meant with my previous remarks,” he said.