Ex-supporters explain why they 'walked away' from Democratic Party

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Sun, December 10, 2023 | 13:55

Politics

Ex-supporters explain why they 'walked away' from Democratic Party

Posted : 2022-06-01 19:32

Updated : 2022-06-01 21:20

A woman prepares to cast her vote for local elections to elect mayors, governors, council members and education superintendents at a polling station in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

By Jung Min-ho

It was a party they trusted only four years ago. When the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) won 14 out of 17 metropolitan mayor and governor posts, in the biggest-ever local election victory by any party, some party leaders said that the landslide would be only the beginning of its long reign.

But it wasn't.

Barring an unprecedented polling error, the liberal DPK is expected to lose at least 10 of the key posts after the June 1 elections.

Some people who voted for the party in previous elections told The Korea Times Tuesday that they have lost trust in it largely due to its incompetence and hypocrisy.

"I will never vote for the DPK, not just this election but ever again," said Cheong, 31, a Seoul travel company employee who had previously voted only for liberal parties, mostly the DPK. "Housing prices skyrocketed during the Moon Jae-in government. But the DPK, which has control over both executive and legislature branches and even local offices, has failed to provide any effective solution for the problem."

Research by the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice, a civic group, shows the average price of a 99-square-meter apartment in Seoul nearly doubled from 620 million won to ($500,000) to 1.19 billion won for the first four years of Moon's term, starting back in May of 2017, when he was inaugurated and pledged that he would stabilize rising property prices.

Cheong said he and many others in their 20s and 30s will have to live with the consequences, and he and his girlfriend have been left without any choice but to delay their marriage.

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A woman casts her vote for local elections to elect mayors, governors, council members and education superintendents at a polling station in Seoul, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Jin, 38, a mother of a six-year-old daughter, said she felt betrayed when news broke that Oh Keo-don resigned from the position of Busan mayor disgracefully after sexually assaulting female staffers. It was not the first ― nor the last ― such crime committed by local government leaders from the DPK in recent years.

Jin, a Seoul resident who had already been dissatisfied with the DPK's anti-Japan campaign, which negatively affected her Japan-related work, gave up hope on the party.

"It tries to brand itself as a party for women, but who would believe that? The party likes to use women but does little for them," she said.

"Personally, I was deeply offended by the party's irresponsible anti-Japan campaign, which it exploited for its political interests. I'm sure many patriotic people felt the same way after their businesses were damaged by it … I also heard from my colleagues when anti-Japan sentiment was running high that Japanese children in certain areas were terrified by protesters on their streets."

The Democratic Party of Korea's leaders and other officials watch the exit poll results of the June 1 local elections at the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

Park, 56, a small business owner in Suwon, had voted only for the DPK and its predecessors, for his whole life. But for this election, he said he also decided not to.

"The biggest reason for me to change my mind was the party's 'naeronambul' (which can be translated as hypocrisy) attitude … As an opposition party, the DPK screamed for justice and fairness. But after it became the ruling party, it immediately changed its attitude and did not act on things it had promised to act on," he said. "It likes to demonize the other party, but it is no better. Making its own government blacklist exemplifies this character. The Park Geun-hye administration was abandoned by the people due to abuse of power, and yet the DPK does the same."

The Cho Kuk scandal, in which the former justice minister and his wife allegedly colluded to falsify internship certificates and awards for her daughter to get into a medical school, was a tipping point for Park.

Now the daughter's school admission was rescinded and the wife is in prison. "But still, Cho denies it. When the DPK fiercely defended him, I was deeply disappointed," Park said.

Asked whether he could change his mind again to support the party for the next elections, Park said he would consider it ― but only if the DPK genuinely changes its ways.

"If the party accepts criticism and restores its good old spirit, I think I can support it again," he said. "But if not, I wouldn't."

mj6c2@koreatimes.co.kr