Parties scout iconic figures without follow-up policies

Won Jong-gun, one of the newly introduced members of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea for the April 15 general election, leaves a press conference hall at the National Assembly in Seoul, Jan. 28, after announcing he would leave politics amid a #MeToo scandal. Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun

• Published Feb 4, 2020 6:11 PM KST
• Updated Feb 4, 2020 6:11 PM KST

New members used in gaining attention; their speciality not reflected in policy

By Jung Da-min

Scouting iconic figures representing minorities has been an important part of parties' election strategies, and they are again gearing up such moves ahead of this year's April 15 general election.

A chronic problem of such a strategy, however, is that the parties focus more on gaining popularity through the “fresh faces,” choosing to put on a show of caring about certain minorities but then failing to come up with any specific practical agenda or plans to support them.

Additionally, in the process of scouting these people, parties often fail to sufficiently vet the figures they select as candidates for constituencies or proportional representation.

A recent #MeToo scandal that brought down a young politician newly scouted by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), has brought these problems into the spotlight.

Won Jong-gun, a 27-year-old man, known for his “moving” story of overcoming difficulties as a son of a deaf-blind mother, was introduced as a new member of the DPK at the end of last year. His relatively young age also received attention as a presumed sign of the party's new strategy to appeal to the younger generation.

But even before the scandal was revealed, political watchers raised the issue of the party's lack of policy plans for young people, as Won himself said he had not had enough time to think of which policies he wanted to promote.

Another decision that added to the criticism against the ruling party was the scouting of ballerina-turned-physical rehabilitation professor Choi Hye-young, 41, who was paralyzed following a 2003 car accident and has since been working to improve awareness of the disabled. They said that the party only promoted Choi's symbolic story without presenting specific policies or plans that would help women or disabled people.

Bae Bog-joo, the leader of the civic group Women with Disabilities Empathy, said the DPK has focused too much on displaying iconic figures representing minorities to craft an image while such new members' political values were hardly represented.

“For Won's case, aside from the story of him having a disabled mom and overcoming difficulties, his political beliefs as a typical young man should have been presented,” Bae pointed out. “The failure in using Won stemmed from the DPK's strategy that put too much emphasis on his story. They promoted him using a good story then got struck by a bad story.

“Instead of trying to craft a particular image by using these iconic figures, they should put more focus on presenting the party's long-term agenda,” she said.

Political watchers also say that parties should establish follow-up systems to continuously support such new members.

They said the case of a Philippines-born naturalized Korean politician Jasmine Lee who left the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) to join the progressive minor opposition Justice Party in November last year, showed that the LKP had failed to come up with policies supporting immigrants after it “temporarily” used her to promote its image.

Lee had served as a lawmaker with the conservative then-ruling Saenuri Party, the predecessor of the LKP, from 2012 to 2016 after being selected as a proportional representative. But she did not get a seat at the 2016 election according to the party's rule that members can only serve one term as a proportional representative. The party did not nominate her for a constituency, either, citing the low chances of her beating other competitors.

Apparently Lee was given little room to play a role in the party's agenda setting for immigrants ― rather, the party has not paid much attention to the issue. When joining the Justice Party, Lee said she thought the Saenuri Party paid attention to minorities but the situation has changed since the party became the LKP.

Rep. Kim Jong-dae of the Justice Party said in a recent radio interview that she had been treated as an outcast among the LKP members as they considered her a burden rather than an asset.

Although the Justice Party vowed full support for Lee, it has yet to be seen whether it will lead to the party presenting long-term policies for immigrants.