Still stuck in a mud fight over the texts

Ahead of the July 23 national convention to elect new leaders of the People Power Party (PPP), candidates are stuck in a mud fight over whether former PPP interim leader Han Dong-hoon ignored a text message the first lady sent to him to express her intention to apologize for her suspicious acceptance of a luxury handbag from a mysterious pastor. The divide over the issue will certainly deal a critical blow to the governing party. Current interim leader Hwang Woo-yeo tried to referee, warning of strong actions for “excessively” abusive remarks during the campaign. Floor leader Choo Kyung-ho complained of “suicidal” scenes in the race.

But such warnings fell on deaf ears. Former Land Minister Won Hee-ryong, a candidate loyal to President Yoon Suk Yeol, wondered why Han didn’t respond to the Telegram message as head of the party shortly before the April 10 parliamentary elections. “If she had apologized to the public, the election outcome could have been different,” Won claimed.

But Han retorted that he had understood the first lady’s messages as an expression of difficulties in making a public apology and therefore did not answer back. He claimed that he asked the presidential office to express an official view on the matter, which resulted in a fallout between Han and the president. Han’s aides claim that the presidential office had leaked the texts to stop Han from returning to the party’s helm.

The theme dominated the first debate among candidates in Gwangju, South Jeolla. Han accused the other three candidates of causing internal fissures through slander. Won claimed that both the government and party will be doomed if they break up. Another candidate, Rep. Na Kyung-won, scorned Han for neglecting his duty as interim leader by cutting off the first lady at that time. Han snapped back that if he had replied and communicated with the first lady at the time, he could have invited a strong attack from the opposition Democratic Party (DP) for power abuse.

The presidential office’s role is also under fire. Rep. Kim Jae-seop, a PPP lawmaker, said, “Circumstances suggest the presidential office either directly or indirectly was interfering with the party convention.” The presidential office denied this. The party leadership also warned against pulling the presidential office into the party election.

The PPP convention is turning into an in-house feud over power. The DP defined the text scandal as a type of power abuse. The PPP’s approval ratings have been hovering around 30 percent since mid-June, similar to the level in the wake of its crushing defeat in the legislative elections. If the mud fight does not stop, the PPP will lose a precious chance to resuscitate the lethargic conservative party.