DPK unlikely to accept call to investigate President's son

Rep. Hong Young-pyo, floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), participates in a party meeting at the National Assembly on Dec. 18. / Yonhap

By Park Ji-won

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is unlikely to accept repeated requests by opposition parties to investigate alleged hiring irregularities related to Moon Joon-yong, son of President Moon Jae-in, in an apparent move to spare the President from further difficulties.

Political sources said Tuesday the ruling party will maintain a wait-and-see stance for a while about the request as the acceptance for an Assembly investigation into Joon-yong, if it actually happens, may put the President into jeopardy on multiple fronts.

The key rationale is as the President has already confronted numerous internal challenges such as a slow progress of talks aimed at dismantling North Korea and tepid economic growth, the request may bring an early arrival of lame-duck status.

Opposition parties led by the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) are asking the ruling party to investigate Joon-yong as a prerequisite to investigating LKP leader Kim Sung-tae's daughter. Kim is suspected of influencing the hiring process at KT to have his daughter hired in the country's dominant fixed-line operator.

“Joon-yong would have been thoughtful as a son of the President, but no one can use him at any time as a target for a political attack,” Rep. Park Kwang-on, a member of the supreme council of the DPK, wrote on Facebook, Monday.

“Joon-yong was suspected of getting advantages in his job searching process, but such allegations were completely cleared both legally and ethically,” the DPK lawmaker said.

It is not the first time for the DPK to go on the defensive when Joon-yong's hiring-related issues have been emerged. A few days ago, Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung, who was indicted for violating a local election law, raised the issue in what political analysts called a “survival tactics” to defend himself from further fallout.

Governor Lee claimed a probe on Joon-yong about the allegations was necessary for fact-checking. After the governor's Facebook commentary, the DPK leadership council scrapped a plan to summon the governor to the party's disciplinary committee about his ongoing charges.

When Governor Lee mentioned Joon-yong's case, the President's supporters asked the governor to officially leave the party.

“More precisely, the DPK is unlikely to respond to the LKP leader Kim's suggestion to launch an Assembly probe into his daughter and Joon-yong, as well, as the probe would bring huge backlash from the President's supporters,” one source told The Korea Times.

The President's approval rating dropped to a new low last week amid an ongoing controversy over the alleged surveillance of citizens by Cheong Wa Dae and little progress in the denuclearization process.

The minor opposition Bareunmirae Party (BMP) joined forces with the LKP by asking the ruling party to respond to the request by the LKP leader Kim.

“It is weird for the DPK, which has been confident, to become passive when the LKP mentions Joon-yong,” BMP spokesman Lee Jong-chul said in a statement last week. “The DPK should address this case sternly. If everything is fine, then there's no reason to avoid the call.”

Critics point out the hiring allegation surrounding Joon-yong likely will remain a major bone of contention throughout Moon's presidency.

“The suspicions of Joon-yong's hiring irregularities already became a material for the other side of the ruling party to water down their controversy,” political commentator Choi Soon-ae said.