LKP 'underwear' dancing causes stir

Some members of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) show Korean letters written on their underwear while others dance during a party event titled “Woman Festa,” which was held to promote women's political participation at the K Seoul Hotel, Wednesday. Yonhap

By Park Ji-won

A controversy is swirling over a dance performance by some female members of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) during a party event — they pulled their pants down at one point to show a message written on their underwear.

The message they wanted to deliver was “LKP victory.” However, rival parties and some LKP lawmakers say this shows the party’s lack of sensitivity to women-related issues.

The party held the event, titled “Woman Festa,” at a hotel in Seoul on Wednesday night to discuss women’s roles in politics. Some 1,600 members including LKP Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn and floor leader Rep. Na Kyung-won participated in the event.

The controversial performance, conducted by female members from the party’s South Gyeongsang Province branch, was part of a talent show, where they sang, danced and waved national flags.

At the end of the performance, five members came to the front of the stage, turned around and then pulled their pants down to show white underwear with one syllable each of the phrase “LKP victory” written in Korean.

After the show, Hwang reportedly gave a pep talk to the participants, saying, “Don’t forget what you did today and practice more to create a great performance team for the LKP.”

Political parties slammed the LKP for its lack of gender sensitivity while some urged Hwang to step down to take responsibility for what happened.

Rep. Lee Jae-jung, spokeswoman of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), posted a response on Facebook Wednesday stating, “I feel like the LKP is not trying to win people’s support by becoming a women-centric party, but only looking for ways to win a victory by using women as tools. The party’s approach to gender sensitivity remains unchanged as it has been shown in members’ blunt remarks in the past.”

Kim Jung-hwa, spokeswoman of the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party, said on Thursday, “This is more than embarrassing. I am shocked by the LKP’s poor understanding of gender. It seems the party doesn’t know what went wrong. The party is irredeemable and should be disbanded.”

Jung Ho-jin, spokeswoman of the Justice Party, said in a statement Thursday, “It is a surprise to see a political party pre-organize such a shocking event.”

Even insiders have criticized the party’s event for not being considerate enough about women’s issues.

“The LKP should be more serious to get over the difficult situation it faces, especially when the National Assembly hasn’t been operating for more than two months. Do you really think the party will become women-friendly by having such a lascivious dance without taking into account what people think?” Rep. Chang Je-won of the LKP said Wednesday.

“I feel powerless and sad today.”

It is not the first time the party has been under fire for such controversial moves or pejorative remarks against women.

Na has been criticized for using misogynic remarks to attack President Moon Jae-in and his supporters in May, calling them “Dalchang.” The term is being used in far-right online communities to describe Moon’s supporters as prostitutes for Moon.

However, Hwang blamed the media for criticizing the party claiming it has a liberal bias.

“The media is occupied by leftists. That’s one of the reasons why the positive messages from us were not reported and there is more media coverage about our mistakes,” Hwang said during a party meeting, Thursday.

“That is why we need to have close communication with the civic society.”