PPP presidential contenders seek to woo voters with anti-China rhetoric

Rep. Na Kyung-won, one of the People Power Party's presidential contenders, speaks at a rally calling for the closure of the Xi Jinping Collection Room inside the main library of Seoul National University in Seoul, Tuesday. Newsis

Conservatives in Korea largely remain divided after the impeachment of their former leader, Yoon Suk Yeol. But their presidential contenders appear to have found common ground on one issue ahead of the June 3 election: the threat posed by China.

Speaking to members of Truth Forum, a conservative group at Seoul National University (SNU) on Tuesday, Rep. Na Kyung-won of the People Power Party (PPP) called for the shutdown of the Xi Jinping Collection Room, a resource center set up at the school's main library in 2015 to commemorate the Chinese leader’s visit there the previous year.

“SNU has no memorial space or archives established for any of Korea’s former presidents such as Syngman Rhee or Park Chung-hee, who led Korea’s foundation and industrialization efforts,” said Na, a five-term lawmaker who formerly served as its floor leader. “And yet, the school operates a resource center dedicated to Xi Jinping, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, right at the heart of its central library, over which many raise serious concerns and questions.”

Na said she believes the establishment of the center was part of China's “sharp power” strategy to gain influence over other countries and called on university authorities to close it immediately.

Na is not the only PPP politician who appears to be wooing voters with anti-China rhetoric. The same day, Hong Joon-pyo, who resigned as Daegu mayor last week to join the race, said he will deprive Chinese national foreign residents of Korea of the right to vote in local elections such as for governors and mayors.

Former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo announces his vision at a press conference in Seoul, Tuesday. One of the 18 pledges written in the banner is to curtail foreign residents' right to vote in Korea. Newsis

Hong said he will take a “reciprocity” approach to the issue, in remarks apparently aimed at China, where Korean residents don’t enjoy the same right.

“If we want to give Chinese nationals the right to vote in local elections, they (China) should give us the right to vote there,” he said.

Chinese nationals are not the only group of permanent foreign residents who have that right under the Public Official Election Act, as it applies to all who have held permanent resident visas here for three years or longer. But data shows that Chinese account for 81 percent of 140,100 such noncitizen voters in Korea, followed by Taiwanese (6.9 percent), Japanese (4.8 percent) and Vietnamese (1.1 percent).

Many PPP leaders have embraced the policy idea, including Han Dong-hoon, another PPP presidential hopeful considered a moderate among the pack.

Han, who has been rejected by PPP hardliners after his support for Yoon's impeachment in December 2024, reiterated his political will to “correct” the system.

“It should be corrected under the principle of reciprocity before the next local elections,” he said in a social media post earlier this month.

The PPP contenders promote a tough stance on China because it is a message that can unite conservatives, said Kim Sung-soo, a professor of political science and diplomacy at Hanyang University.

Among some ultra-conservatives, speculation of Chinese interference in elections has been widespread — which was one of the causes that Yoon cited in his decision to declare martial law last December.

“What most conservatives share in terms of foreign policy is that they highly value the alliance with the U.S.,” Kim told The Korea Times, adding that such anti-China rhetoric can be effective not only to PPP supporters, who remain divided after Yoon’s impeachment, but also to more moderate voters who share such views of China’s influence.

Beijing’s provocative behavior has helped fueled such worries. Last month, officials said China was installing steel structures in a disputed area known as the Provisional Measures Zone in Korea’s West Sea, where the Exclusive Economic Zones of Korea and China overlap.

Na and 27 other PPP legislators signed a resolution bill drafted to condemn the behavior. The bill is currently under the review of the Assembly’s National Defense Committee as well as the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans, and Fisheries Committee.

According to one poll released in 2023, 91 percent of South Korean respondents in their 20s and 30s said they had unfavorable views of China, compared with Japan (63 percent) and even North Korea (88 percent).