Defection moves: boon for Yoo, bane for Hong
By Jun Ji-hye
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Yoo Seong-min
Hong Joon-pyo
A public uproar over the 12 Bareun Party lawmakers waiting to rejoin the Liberty Korea Party (LKP) is having mixed implications for the Bareun Party candidate Yoo Seong-min and the LKP’s Hong Joon-pyo.
It is evident that this case is pouring cold water on Hong’s recent rally in the presidential race, while Yoo is seeing an upsurge in popularity thanks to public sympathy and encouragement.
Twelve lawmakers, including Reps. Kweon Seong-dong and Kim Sung-tae, quit the Bareun Party earlier this week to support Hong in an apparent bid to prevent the Democratic Party of Korea’s candidate Moon Jae-in from being elected in the May 9 election. The lawmakers said they wanted to “unify forces to prevent a pro-North Korea, leftist politician from prevailing in the election.”
Earlier than this, Rep. Lee Eun-jae who had belonged to the Bareun Party also made a move to return to the LKP last week.
Their decisions came as Yoo has been suffering from stagnant, low single-digit support, while Hong’s popularity has been increasing among conservative voters.
However, contrary to expectations that their defection would exert a favorable effect on Hong’s presidential bid, it faces huge criticism from members of the public as well as some LKP lawmakers loyal to former President Park Geun-hye. This consequently has put Hong in an awkward situation.
Critics said their defection was unjustified, given that Yoo was elected as the Bareun Party candidate through a democratic process. The unpopularity of the candidate cannot be a genuine reason for quitting the party, they said.
Pro-Park lawmakers of the LKP also reacted against the Bareun Party members’ return, citing that they previously left the Saenuri Party, the predecessor of the LKP, when the party suffered a severe blow from the massive corruption scandal involving Park. After forming the Bareun Party, they voted in favor of Park’s impeachment in December, and Park was removed from office in March.
“If they rejoin the LKP, I will leave the party,” said Rep. Han Sun-kyo.
Rep. Lee Cheol-woo, a campaign chief of the LKP, said Wednesday that the 12 lawmakers submitted applications to return to the LKP, but added it would be difficult for the party to make a decision on whether to accept them before the presidential election.
Rep. Lee cited a matter of procedure, but observers believe the real reason for the delay is the pro-Park members’ resistance.
On the other hand, Yoo has received messages of encouragement and sympathy through social network services, with donations having also risen sharply, after the mass defection. The number of applications to join the Bareun Party has also multiplied ten-fold, according to party officials.
With mounting criticism against those who decided to defect and encouragement for Yoo, Rep. Jeong Woon-chun, who had reportedly been considering defection, said Thursday that he will stay in the party and keep supporting Yoo.
The previous day, Rep. Hwang Young-cheul also withdrew his earlier decision to leave the party along with the 12 other lawmakers.
Mindful of a fresh conflict between those who quit the Bareun Party and the pro-Park lawmakers of the LKP, Hong said, also on Thursday, “Everyone needs to be forgiven, and we need to be consolidated into one party to win the election.”
Observers say it is hard to tell how the ongoing situation will affect the rest of the presidential race, saying it remains to be seen whether the LKP will accept the applications from the defectors before the election.