In Korean politics, fresh blood sometimes gets bloodied

Politics

Published: 14 Jul. 2022, 17:43

In Korean politics, fresh blood sometimes gets bloodied

Park Ji-hyun, right, interim co-chair of the Democratic Party, is seated beside Lee Jun-seok, chairman of the People Power Party, at a banquet for U.S. President Joe Biden at the National Museum of Korea in central Seoul on May 21. [YONHAP]

The struggles of Lee Jun-seok, the suspended chairman of the People Power Party (PPP), and Park Ji-hyun, former interim head of the Democratic Party (DP), show how fresh blood doesn't always turn around political parties' fortunes — or survive the attempt.

Lee and Park were promising new faces who made dramatic entrances onto the political scene after being pushed forward by their parties as representatives of people in their 20s and 30s. They were meant to be a breath of fresh air for parties with stodgy images, and to act as Pied Pipers for voters of their generation.

Both are scrambling to survive now that election season is over.

Lee, 37, entered politics in 2011 as a member of the conservative party's interim emergency leadership committee on the recommendation of former President Park Geun-hye. Thus, he has often been described as one of "Park Geun-hye's kids."

The Harvard graduate made headlines in June 2021 after he was elected PPP chairman, becoming the youngest leader of a political party as the age of 36. His youth was considered his main asset for restoring the PPP's popularity after the impeachment and removal of Park for corruption and abuse of power — regardless of his direct connection with the disgraced president.

To a large extent it worked and a PPP candidate, Yoon Sook-yeol, managed to win the presidency last March, just five years after Park's removal.

Last week, the PPP ethics committee suspended Lee's party membership for six months over allegations he accepted sexual services as a bribe from a businessman in 2013 during the Park administration and later tried to cover it up.

Park Ji-hyun, a 26-year-old activist fighting online sex crimes, was recruited by the DP in late January to serve on Lee Jae-myung's ultimately unsuccessful presidential campaign team. She was named vice chairperson of the DP's women's affairs committee.

Park was known as one of two female university students dubbed "Team Flame" who helped bring the "Nth room" criminal case to light in 2019. The "Nth room" chat rooms on the Telegram instant messaging app were used to sexually exploit young women and underage girls and and blackmail them, and became a major public scandal.

In March, Park became a co-chair of the DP's emergency steering committee following Lee's presidential election defeat and the resignation of the party leadership.

Last month, all members of the steering committee including Park stepped down to take responsibility for the party's defeat in June 1 local elections.

However, she is keen on making a quick comeback.

Last week, the DP rejected her request to run for the chairmanship of the party at a national convention next month because of a lack of qualifications.

Under the party's charter, only candidates who have held party membership for at least six months are qualified to run. Park officially joined the party on Feb. 14.

Some critics point out that young figures like Lee and Park are used for attracting votes during elections and later thrown under the bus.

This year was the first time 18-year-olds were eligible to vote in a presidential election and to run in local elections. Never have younger people been more important to Korean politics.

During the last presidential campaign, Lee made remarks obviously aimed at the young male demographic of voters in their 20s and 30s and became a figurehead for antifeminism. That produced a lot of headlines and outrage.

Yet he successfully led the PPP in two major victories in the presidential and local elections. He also helped changed the image of the party being a bunch of conservative middle-aged ajumma and ajusshi.

In the case of the DP, it last the March 9 presidential election but very narrowly, and it saw a rise in young female voters repelled by the PPP's promise to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

Park Ji-hyun called for drastic reforms within the DP, coming down hard on its politicians for sexual misconduct and encouraging the older generation of politicians to make way for younger ones.

Her blunt speech and lack of political experience sometimes got her in trouble. Park apologized in late May after she called for politicians over their 50s, dubbed "Generation 586," to retire from politics, which sparked an internal feud days before the local elections.

Park is not backing down. She is expected to insist on running for the DP chair. This could pit her against former presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, whom she campaigned for.

Park wrote in a Facebook post Thursday, "Now is the time for Rep. Lee Jae-myung to speak up," regarding whether he supported her running or not.

She added, "President Yoon Seok-yeol's approval rating has dropped, but the DP's approval rating continues to decline. One reason is that the DP has failed to show its intention to change the party while chasing out young politicians."

She said it is time for the DP to alter its reputation of being "an outdated party that refuses to innovate" by letting her run.

DP Rep. Cho Eung-cheon told CBS radio Thursday that the circumstances were different for Lee and Park, noting that Lee was "thrown away by the party after winning two elections" for the PPP.

He added that the situation with Park was a matter of principles as "it was difficult to find a reason to grant an exception" to the party charter's rules.

Last Friday, Lee refused to step down as party chairman and said he would take all possible measures to reverse the ethics committee's decision, which has put his future political career on the line.

There is division within the PPP between those who believe the unprecedented disciplinary action against Lee is too extreme, while others are in favor of ousting him. Lee has accused some party members close to Yoon of being keen on pushing him out.

On Wednesday, after remaining silent for days, Lee shared over Facebook that he had hiked Mount Mudeung in Gwangju and promised to keep his political pledges to Gwangju citizens. He wrote, "They may take a little bit longer, but I have not forgotten them."

Amid speculations about Lee's next moves, he seemed to signal that he is set on a political comeback.

A faction of lawmakers close to conservative political heavyweight Yoo Seong-min have spoken up for Lee, saying his party suspension was unreasonable.

In a Facebook post Thursday, PPP Rep. Kim Byung-wook wrote, "If you get caught up in the moment in a power game, you will all just die together."

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]