Foul-mouth - a common trait of strong leaders?

Candidates play 'tough leader' card

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Inflammatory language, insults and even swear words are rampant in campaign rallies as the May 9 election approaches.

Presidential hopefuls and their aides appear to feel little pressure when using such emotional language as they play “the tough leader card” as a last-minute tactic to rally support from undecided voters who are reserving their decision in search of a strong leader.

If frontrunner Moon Jae-in is elected, liberal politician Lee Hae-chan, a chief strategist for Moon, warned the nation’s conservatives will be annihilated.

Liberty Korea Party (LKP) candidate Hong Joon-pyo said Lee’s remarks terrified him because they reminded him of the massacre the Khmer Rouge led in Cambodia in the 1970s. Hong called some progressive activists who insulted him “sons of bitches.”

The outspoken politician depicted Sohn Hak-kyu, the chief campaign strategist of People’s Party candidate Ahn Cheol-soo, as “a political refugee” for his flip-flopping in his political orientation. His remarks followed Sohn’s speech during a campaign rally in April that “a vote for Hong is a vote for Moon.” Sohn was a longtime member of the now defunct Saenuri Party and served as governor of Gyeonggi Province between 2002 and 2006 after winning an election on the conservative party’s ticket. He defected to the now liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) during the 2007 presidential election, years before his affiliation with the centrist People’s Party.

In times of crisis and unprecedented political upheaval, fiery politicians appeal more easily than calm leaders to the hearts and minds of voters. This sentiment seems to play out behind the presidential race where curses, insults and unedited language are in full swing.

Kwak Dae-kyung, a sociology professor at Dongguk University, said presidential candidates seem to view emotional language as part of their campaign strategy to highlight they are strong leaders. “They use such language to deliver their decisiveness and toughness,” the sociologist said. “I’m not sure whether the campaign tactic is working among voters or not, though.”

Ohio State University researchers, meanwhile, put forth insightful analysis about emotional language.

In times of economic stability, they found voters trust restrained candidates. But in times of crisis or uncertainty, they view a candidate who uses high-intensity and emotional language as a more suitable one to lead the nation, according to a study published in the September 2016 issue of Presidential Studies Quarterly.

Presidential candidates traded barbs and heated language during the last televised debate on Tuesday, a week before the election.

Hong cited Moon’s adviser Lee’s sensational remarks to discredit the frontrunner. “According to your adviser, all conservatives will be burnt at the stake if you are elected,” the conservative politician said. “This means I will face that tragic fate if you’re elected. Could you please confirm if my understanding is correct?”

Hong alleged that Moon’s plan to “purge the corrupt, outdated forces” is a plot to retaliate against his opponents, as opposed to what Moon called a plan to unify the nation.

Moon dismissed this and claimed Lee was quoted out of context.

He too is not immune from criticism that he went too far.

In a speech to a campaign rally, April 30, the DPK candidate alleged that his opponents tried to paint him as a communist.

“You jerks must bear this in mind: the voters won’t be duped again,” Moon said before his cheering supporters in the South Chungcheong Province city of Gongju.

Moon, who served as presidential chief of staff during the Roh Moo-hyun government, is accused of having directed the officials in charge of the South-North Korea channel to consult with the North Korean regime about the U.N. General Assembly’s Resolution 62/167 decrying the dismal human rights conditions in the North before South Korea made a decision on it.

The allegation was raised in former Foreign Minister Song Min-soon’s memoir, titled “Glaciers Are Moving,” which was published last October. Moon’s alleged role behind the Roh government’s abstention from the U.N. resolution “to curry favor with the North”has since emerged as a campaign issue.

Moon denied this and claimed he was quoted out of context in the former foreign minister’s memoir.

The outspoken Hong, whose tactics have been compared to Trump-style campaigning, has used plenty of unedited words during the campaign rallies. The LKP presidential candidate labeled 20 progressive activists, who sprayed salt toward him as “sons of bitches.”

Spraying salt is an old ritual Koreans do to insult people who disgust them or they feel bring bad luck. Hong faced it on April 10, a day after his belated resignation as governor of South Gyeongsang Province paved the way for his vice governor Ryu Soon-hyun to succeed to the post as acting governor without holding a by-election to elect Hong’s replacement.

The current law stipulates the legal deadline for sitting governors and mayors to send their official resignation letters to the National Election Commission : if their resignation comes after the deadline, those who are in the no. 2 post automatically fill the vacant leadership, without a by-election.

“I had suffered a lot all during my tenure as governor of South Gyeongsang Province because of the leftists,” he said during a campaign rally on April 29 in the southeastern city of Gimhae. “I returned to my hometown to serve as governor but those sons of bitches tried to get me in trouble so I struggled a lot.”

Linguist Choi Jong-hee, the author of “Park Geun-hye’s Language” (2016), said campaign staffers’ misleading advice or candidates’ personal traits are the main drivers behind politicians becoming foul-mouthed. “Some campaign strategists believe candidates are viewed as tough leaders if they use emotional language, which is untrue,” he said. “Moon, for example, is not viewed as a strong leader, partly because of his speaking style. He is not eloquent. He is closer to an academic. So my guess is one of his campaign advisers has advised him to use tough language to overcome his relatively soft image.”

Choi, president of the Language and Thinking Institute, said there is no direct relationship between strong leaders and emotional language and so campaign tactics focused on emotional language would do little for candidates in the presidential race.

The linguist said Hong’s tough talk seems to be associated with his personal characteristics. “He knows how to protect himself from outside attacks because of his eventful rise as a presidential candidate after going through a myriad of challenges from his childhood years,” he said. “Before joining the political arena, he was a prosecutor but not a high-flying one. His marriage was not smooth, either, because of the disapproval from his father-in-law.”

Choi said Hong’s personal traits, including his inflammatory language, have been formed while going through such challenges.