Liberty Korea Party chief's leadership losing luster
Liberty Korea Party Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn, second from left, speaks during a meeting for the party's supreme council at the National Assembly, Monday. Yonhap
By Jung Da-min.
Hwang Kyo-ahn's leadership of the Liberty Korea Party (LKP) is being called into question following his recent attempts to recruit controversial figures to the main opposition party, including former four-star Army Gen. Park Chan-ju, who was embroiled in a “gapjil” controversy in 2017.
The former prime minister in the Park Geun-hye administration backed off from the move, excluding Gen. Park from a list of eight new party members announced Oct. 31 that included University of Seoul economics professor Yun Chang-hyun and Soonchunhyang University economics professor Kim Yong-ha.
“I understand there have been times when our party did not meet the people's expectations,” Hwang said during a meeting of the LKP Supreme Council at the National Assembly, Monday. “I will now listen to their voices.”
But after the meeting, Hwang told reporters that the party would continue to search for more “good” candidates, implying that he was still thinking about recruiting Park.
Gen. Park was accused of abusing his power ― his wife also used his position to do the same ― when he served as head of the 2nd Operational Command. He allegedly treated soldiers working at their official residence like “slaves,” forcing them to do household chores under “inhumane” conditions, according to the Center for Military Human Rights Korea. Park strongly denounced the human rights watchdog, holding a press conference Monday at 63 Building on Yeouido in Seoul, at which he said he just gave orders to his subordinates.
Hwang's attempt to recruit Park came after the military human rights watchdog raised the suspicion that the LKP leader would have been closely engaged in a purported plan in late 2016 and early 2017 to initiate martial law to crack down on anti-government candlelit rallies against President Park Geun-hye if her impeachment trial ruled in her favor. Hwang dismissed the claim calling it a “lie.”
Liberty Korea Party (LKP) Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn, center, introduce new recruits for the party at a welcoming ceremony for them at the National Assembly, Oct. 31. Yonhap
Some LKP members criticized Hwang for discussing the recruitment matter only with his close aides, not with other senior party members.
Adding to the criticism is the stagnant support for the party. The LKP's approval rating dropped to 31.6 percent from Oct. 28 to Nov. 1, down 0.6 percentage points from the previous week, according to a recent poll of 2,507 adults over 19 conducted by Realmeter. The party has continued its losing streak for the third week in a row. Support for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) was 39.6 percent in the latest poll.
The pollster said the ruling DPK seemed to be recovering support after President Moon Jae-in accepted the resignation of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points with a 95 percent confidence level.
The DPK and LKP are continuing to clash over prosecution reform bills, which had been “fast tracked” at the Assembly in April. The DPK is pushing forward with the reform to establish an independent investigative body that holds the authority to indict prosecutors and high-level government officials.
In an apparent move to distract from issues relating to his leadership, Hwang demanded Cheong Wa Dae replace senior presidential aides and reshuffle the Cabinet, citing North Korea's repeated and continued military provocations.