Leaders of ruling, opposition parties trade barbs over Moon
Members of the main opposition Liberty Party Korea and its supporters hold a street rally to criticize the Moon Jae-in administration for what they called its poor economic and diplomatic performances in Seoul, Saturday. / Yonhap
By Park Ji-won
Ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Rep. Lee Hae-chan and main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn traded barbs, Monday, after Hwang described President Moon Jae-in as the “top spokesman” for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a public speech.
Lee warned Hwang over the remarks, saying Hwang should stop deepening the ideological divide in order to further his own political interests.
“How come the leader of the main opposition can make such remarks against Moon. Hwang, who just started political activities, will have a bad ending with these current activities. It is not politics. If he makes such remarks again, I will not overlook it anymore.”
Lee's remarks came after Hwang made the comments at a large LKP rally held in Gwanghwamun, downtown Seoul Saturday, attended by 20,000 people, to condemn the government's poor economic and diplomatic performance. Using the criticism as leverage, the conservative party has been calling for the removal of senior presidential secretary for civil affairs Cho Kuk and senior secretary for personnel affairs Cho Hyun-ok for lax personnel verification.
During the demonstration, Hwang also said that “Moon is traveling all over the world to ask for relief of sanctions imposed against the North while Pyongyang is threatening us with nuclear weapons.”
Describing the government as a “dictatorship by leftists,” Hwang added that “Moon pushed ahead with the appointments of the new Constitutional Court members who will be loyal to him regardless of the country's economic situation.”
Political turmoil is expected to deepen over Hwang's controversial remarks. The two parties have already clashed over similar remarks made by Rep. Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the LKP, who also called President Moon Jae-in a “top spokesman for Kim Jong-un” by citing a Bloomberg report last September in a parliamentary speech in March. In the speech, Na slammed what she called the Moon government's defense of North Korea and its economic policies. Her remarks also sparked political warfare among parties over its appropriateness.
Meanwhile, regarding Lee's criticism against him, Hwang immediately refuted it, saying “I am simply making suggestions to fix the government's failures in diplomacy and policies. If they are not listening to this, I have no choice but to take action.”
“When people are suffering from pain and national security is at risk, what I can say is the government is simply incompetent.”
Meanwhile, the lawmakers of the ruling and opposition parties stepped up criticism against Hwang.
Rep. Woo Sang-ho of the DPK criticized Hwang in a radio interview on Monday claiming that Hwang's intention is to lower Moon's support rating before general elections in 2020.
Rep. Lee Sang-don of the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party said that “what Hwang said is not considering the administration as a legitimate one.”
“In that sense, the presidential office and the ruling DPK will not have a conversation with the main opposition party, signaling that the parliament is meaningless.”