ED Revealing true colors

Former PM hit for discrediting impeachment of Park

It is hard to understand why former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who is running for the leadership of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, has attempted to make the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye null and void. Hwang should realize his attempt is nothing more than defiance of the rule of law and a negation of the democratic system of the nation.

Hwang must have gone too far in wooing votes from stalwart supporters of Park who was ousted from power for her involvement in a massive corruption scandal. He might feel like defending the disgraced former head of state only because he was the prime minister under Park's rule. He was also her justice minister after building his 28-year career as a prosecutor.

Hwang also served as acting president until the May 2017 inauguration of President Moon Jae-in from the National Assembly's passage of the impeachment motion against Park in December 2016. He received reports regularly about the prosecution's investigation of the ousted president and her confidant Cho Soon-sil. Thus, few could know about the corruption case better than Hwang.

For this reason, it is surprising to see Hwang claim the impeachment process lacked legitimacy. He even raised the possibility that the evidence found on the tablet PC of Choi might have been fabricated. It is nonsense to question the validity of the evidence which was the smoking gun in impeaching Park and convicting her and Choi for abuse of power and corruption.

Hwang had maintained a low profile about Park's impeachment until recently when he joined the race to elect a new leader of the LKP, whose predecessor was Park's then-ruling Saenuri Party. Now, Hwang has revealed his true colors in his bid to take the helm of the LKP. During a televised debate with two other candidates Feb. 19, he expressed his opposition to her impeachment. He implied it was improper to impeach the president for political reasons without compelling evidence.

He did not stop here. When asked about the possibility of the evidence on Choi's tablet being fabricated in another televised debate Feb. 21, Hwang made an affirmative answer. But it is a wrong answer because both the district court and the appeals court confirmed the validity of the evidence proving Park's collaboration with Choi in abuse of power and corruption.

Hwang is in blind pursuit of his political ambition. He appears to believe his total disregard for the court decisions might help rally far-right supporters of Park behind him in the race. But he risks going against the rule of law and democratic principles.

Hwang's ludicrous remarks reflect his party's tendency to tilt toward the extreme right. Three LKP lawmakers have come under criticism for dismissing the May 1980 Gwangju pro-democracy movement as a riot instigated by North Korean commandos. One of them is Hwang's rival candidate Kim Jin-tae. The LKP decided to expel another lawmaker Lee Jong-myeong from the party, but the public's outcry is growing over the anachronistic remarks.

More worrisome is that the LKP has increasingly lost its ideological identity as a conservative party since Park's impeachment. This loss seems to lend support to far-right extremists who are trying to reinstate Park's honor. If it elects such a figure as Hwang in Wednesday's party convention, the LKP has no future. This will only deepen the public's distrust and speed up the disintegration of the party which has already been mired in factional struggles.