Opposition leader's anti-NK remarks spark controversy

Kim Jong-in, interim leader of Minjoo Party

By Kim Hyo-jin

Kim Jong-in, the interim leader of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK), is taking flak from the party’s traditional supporters after saying the North Korean regime will collapse.

Such hawkish remarks are unusual because the liberal party has supported inter-Korean dialogue and exchanges.

“North Korea cannot maintain its system for long by developing nuclear weapons and firing long-range missiles,” Kim said during a visit to an army unit in the border city of Paju, Tuesday. “I’m confident that the North Korean regime will be annihilated and unification will come one day.”

A party spokesman who accompanied Kim said the opposition leader used the word “annihilation” to mean “self-destruction.”

Despite the efforts to tone it down, Kim’s remarks sparked a strong backlash from opposition parties.

The minor opposition People’s Party accused Kim of deserting the stance on reconciliation-based unification.

“We wonder if he is entitled to lead the main opposition,” Kim Jung-hyun, a spokesman for the party, said. “He has denied the sunshine policy of the former Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administrations, echoing the views of the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye governments.”

Independent lawmaker Rep. Park Jie-won, a former MPK member and a confidant of late President Kim Dae-jung, also raised questions about the remark.

“Kim discarded the opposition identity that puts importance on inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

Kim’s move is seen as an attempt to draw more support from centrist or center-right voters before the general election, according to commentators. The MPK is battling the People’s Party launched by Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, co-founder of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, the forerunner of the MPK, who is in the center of the political spectrum.

“It Kim’s remark was too far a move, it squarely rejected the opposition’s long-standing view on North Korea. This could upset its traditional supporters,” said Yoon Tae-gon, a senior political analyst at Moa Agenda Strategy.

Kim, the campaign strategist for then presidential candidate Park Geun-hye, was recruited by Rep. Moon Jae-in, who stepped down as MPK leader in January following the departure of a dozen lawmakers who opposed his leadership.

Traditional opposition supporters, especially in Gwangju and the Jeolla provinces, criticized Kim’s ties to the military regime of former President Chun Doo-hwan.