Outspoken LKP member expelled from party

Ryu Yeo-hae, then member of the Liberty Korea Party Supreme Council, speaks to reporters after being rejected from participating in a party meeting, Dec. 22. She said she carried a doll as she was afraid to come alone. / Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han

By Choi Ha-young

Ryu Yeo-hae, a member of the Liberty Korea Party (LKP) Supreme Council, was expelled from the party, Tuesday, for making disparaging remarks about party leader Hong Joon-pyo. She cannot rejoin the party for the next five years, according to party rules.

Ryu wrote harsh words in posts on her social media accounts, in protest against party chairman Hong’s personnel reshuffle, Dec. 17. The LKP deprived 62 party members of chief positions in electoral districts ― influential posts in leading the local elections next year ― in an apparent bid to consolidate Hong’s leadership. Ryu is one of 62 people who lost the posts.

Ryu’s press conference before the meeting of the LKP ethics committee, Tuesday, was peppered with provocative words. She said Hong abandoned his “wife” ― referring to party officials who underwent hardships caused by former President Park Geun-hye ― and brought in a “concubine,” referring to those who rejoined the LKP after defecting to the Bareun Party.

Recently, the LKP chief has been attempting to drive out those associated with Park. Instead, the former Bareun Party lawmakers ― primarily the anti-Park factionists ― are backing up Hong’s bid for leadership of the party.

“The former Bareun members are those who cursed at the LKP when the ex-President was ousted,” Ryu said. “The pro-Park faction no longer exists in the party. Rather, the pro-Hong faction has bullied me.”

Originally, when running for the party’s leadership, Ryu was viewed as Hong’s de facto running mate. As Hong tightens his grip on the party, Ryu, a vocal advocate for Park, became a headache for Hong.

After Hong’s “betrayal,” Ryu poured out raw criticism against Hong. She called Hong a “macho” man who degrades women. “Ignoring female politicians is a deep-rooted injustice,” she said in a post on Facebook, Dec. 18. “Do not regard women as pretty flowers to decorate politics.”

However, she is not free from the criticism of taking advantage of such perceptions. She boasted of her “beauty” as a weapon to fight against “leftists.” She often described herself as a “crybaby” during her struggle against Hong. On Dec. 22, she was carrying a doll saying, “I came here with this doll, because I was afraid of coming alone.”

This was not the first time that Ryu has caused a stir. Last month, Ryu came under fire for saying: “An earthquake in Pohang was a grave warning from God to the Moon Jae-in government, the will of Heaven.”