LKP floor leader hit for asking US not to hold summit around elections

Liberty Korea Party floor leader Na Kyung-won speaks during a meeting for the party's supreme council at the National Assembly, Thursday. Yonhap

By Jung Da-min

Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), has come under fire for allegedly asking Washington not to initiate a plan to hold another U.S.-North Korea summit around the time of next year's general elections in South Korea.

Na said she was just explaining that North Korea-related policies could have a strong influence on voters, but other lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and other minor parties have strongly criticized Na for putting her party's interests before national security and the broader goal of achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Na made the remarks on Nov. 20 when she met U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, while was visiting Washington with other lawmakers to meet U.S. officials and call for fair negotiations in the ongoing defense cost-sharing talks between the two countries.

The DPK and minor parties said Na does not deserve a seat as a lawmaker.

DPK Chairman Rep. Lee Hae-chan condemned Na for causing a “national disgrace” by making such comments in the U.S. “I cannot understand how Na could tell her party members that she had made such an accomplishment in the U.S. when what she did was block our way to peace,” Lee said in a party meeting, Thursday.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon also said, “Na does not deserve to be a lawmaker not to mention in the position of floor leader of a political party if such reports are true.” Park said he feels anger as the Seoul mayor who has been working toward a bid for Seoul and Pyongyang to jointly host the 2032 Summer Olympics, in what would be the first inter-city exchange project between the two countries.

Some LKP members have also criticized Na for excessively showing off her “achievements,” saying she seemed to dismiss criticism over the party's leadership.

“Holding the U.S.-North Korea summit only for showing off is far from its original purpose of achieving true peace of the peninsula through the denuclearization of North Korea,” Na said during a meeting of the party's supreme council at the Assembly, Thursday. “I was telling the truth to the U.S. officials that they should not hold a summit at the wrong time, being deceived by the Moon Jae-in government.”

The controversy started Wednesday after some media reported, citing "officials," that Na told LKP members during a closed-door general meeting of the party that she delivered such message to the U.S. officials. Na later the day issued a statement, insisting she did not ask the U.S. not to hold another U.S.-North Korea summit, but just expressed concerns over it coinciding with the general elections.