Election candidate to 'assassinate' President Park

Kwon Eun-hee in her campaign poster for April 13 general election

By Ko Dong-hwan

A candidate for the April 13 general elections is in trouble over a campaign poster portraying her as an “assassin” targeting President Park Geun-hye.

The poster for the People Party’s Kwon Eun-hee, who is standing for Gwangsan B, Gwangju, South Jeolla Province, showed her smiling as she looks through the crosshairs of a rifle while wearing a military uniform. The poster reads, “Kwon Eun-hee is the one who will snipe Park Geun-hye.”

The poster also said Kwon’s next target was “the Special Committee for National Security Measures,” which, according to media reports, refers to the main opposition party Minjoo Party of Korea(MPK)’s interim head Kim Jong-in, who is standing for the party’s No.2 proportional representation candidate.

He served the special committee in 1980 under former president Chun Doo-hwan, who took Chong Wa Dae through a coup.

Ahn Hyung-hwan, a spokesman for the ruling Saenuri Party election camp, said the idea of “sniping the president” was inappropriate, according to Chosun Ilbo. MPK spokesman Kim Sung-soo also asked, “Is this the People’s Party’s way to the new politics?”

Kwon’s campaign associates reportedly dropped the poster amid the criticism. They were cited by media reports as saying, “Her supporters made the poster and spread it online through the SNS network.” Her party’s spokeswoman apologized.

In January 2015, Kwon, a former police officer at Suseo Police Station in Seoul, allegedly committed perjury in a case against Kim Yong-pan, former chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, for allegedly obstructing an investigation into the National Intelligence Service’s meddling in the 2012 presidential election.

She joined the MPK’s predecessor, the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, in July 14, 2014, for the special elections.