Rep. Kim Moon-soo of DPK removes banner amid confusion with PPP namesake
Rep. Kim Moon-soo of the Democratic Party of Korea removes a promotional banner bearing his name. The photo was posted on his Facebook account Sunday. Captured from Kim’s Facebook
Rep. Kim Moon-soo of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said Sunday that he voluntarily removed a promotional banner bearing his name from his constituency following a wave of complaints from local residents.
The confusion stemmed from the fact that Kim shares the same name — even in Chinese characters — as Kim Moon-soo, the People Power Party’s presidential candidate.
Rep. Kim posted a message titled “Removal of Kim Moon-soo banner” on his Facebook account, along with photos and a video of himself taking down a blue banner bearing the name “Kim Moon-soo.”
He represents the districts of Suncheon, Gwangyang, Gokseong and Gurye in South Jeolla Province.
“The banner was removed after strong protests from Democratic supporters and Suncheon residents who mistook it as campaign material for the People Power Party’s Kim Moon-soo,” he said.
Rep. Kim is a first-term lawmaker who gained attention earlier this year for shaving his head in protest, alongside fellow DPK lawmakers Park Hong-bae and Jun Jin-sook, to demand the impeachment of then-President Yoon Suk Yeol. His namesake, the ruling party’s presidential candidate, is a former labor minister.
Rep. Kim has also recently used social media to satirize the situation. On May 6, he posted a photo with DPK candidate Lee Jae-myung, captioned, “The president is Lee Jae-myung. Kim Moon-soo will also unify with Lee.” The remark was a jab at the PPP’s recent internal turmoil over candidate unification.
On Saturday, he continued the mockery, saying, “This is too much. Kim Moon-soo, who went to the right wing, should not give in and must fight to dismantle the corrupt People Power Party through democratic struggle.”
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.