Saenuri takes to streets over insults by DP reps

Saenuri Party officials rally in Cheonan, South Chungcheong, yesterday to denounce opposition Democratic Party lawmakers Jang Ha-na and Yang Seoung-jo. [NEWSIS]

The ruling Saenuri Party says it’s outraged by insulting remarks about President Park Geun-hye by two opposition Democratic Party lawmakers. And it’s going all out to drum up public support on the back of that outrage.

To protest the below-the-belt remarks, the ruling party yesterday mobilized thousands of party members at a rally at a bus terminal in Cheonan, South Chungcheong.

In the coming days, the party’s 17 regional branches across the country are scheduled to take turns to stage assemblies.

Cheonan was chosen because it’s the election district of Representative Yang Seoung-jo, a DP lawmaker who said on Monday that President Park should be wary of following in the footsteps of her father, former President Park Chung Hee, who was assassinated. The other insulting remark was made by DP lawmaker Jang Ha-na, who on Sunday said she considered the president’s election victory illegitimate and demanded she resign.The protesters urged both Yang and Jang to retract their comments because they reject the results of a democratically held election. They also demanded an official apology from the DP.

On Tuesday, the Saenuri Party submitted motions to expel both lawmakers and voiced suspicions the following day that DP lawmaker Moon Jae-in, who was defeated by Park in last year’s presidential election, masterminded the two lawmakers’ moves.

The Saenuri outdoor protest is reminiscent of the reverse situation four months earlier. At the time, the DP led outdoor rallies against the government and ruling party for their uncooperative attitudes toward investigations into the National Intelligence Service’s alleged meddling in the presidential election last year.

BY SEO JI-EUN [spring@joongang.co.kr]