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Why hard-liners in the Democratic Party are becoming the conservatives’ last hope

Published: 03 Nov. 2025, 00:01

Choi Hoon

The author is a senior columnist at the JoongAng Ilbo.

“Please, do not criticize Jung Cheong-rae, Choo Mi-ae, or Choi Min-hee. Without them, conservatives have no hope left. When I see them, I feel at least a trace of expectation. If one day they suddenly become calm and reasonable, the Democratic Party (DP) might end up ruling forever.”

President Lee Jae Myung meets over lunch with leaders of both ruling and opposition parties at the presidential office in Yongsan on Sept. 8. From left: Democratic Party Chairman Jung Cheong-rae, President Lee, and People Power Party Chairman Jang Dong-hyeok. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE PRESS CORPS]

That was the remark of a former minister with moderate conservative views. The conservative bloc may be in decline, but in the words and behavior of DP figures Jung Cheong-rae, Choo Mi-ae, and Choi Min-hee, some conservatives find consolation, a sense of relevance and perhaps even a faint hope of revival.

Democratic Party Chairman Jung Cheong-rae (left) speaks with Choi Min-hee, head of the Special Committee on Media Reform for Popular Sovereignty, during the committee’s inaugural session at the National Assembly on Aug. 14. [YONHAP]

Whenever progressives take power, the first agenda is reform of the prosecution and the media. With its overwhelming majority in the National Assembly, the current administration has widened the battlefield to include the Supreme Court. Progressives argue they suffered from politically motivated investigations and media reports under conservative governments, and now seek to “return justice” through reform. Jung stands at the front with the banner of “reform,” backed by Choo Mi-ae on prosecutorial and judicial reform, and Choi Min-hee leading media reform in the National Assembly.

Why, then, have these figures become, paradoxically, the remaining source of hope for conservatives?

Recently, Jung said prosecutors who fabricate cases and judges who turn the guilty into the innocent should be tracked down and punished for “distorting the law.” But no such crime exists in current legislation, and it remains unclear who would judge these judges. He called Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de a “cowardly opportunist” like those who stayed silent under Japanese rule but claimed to be independence activists after liberation because Jo did not speak during the Dec. 3 martial law situation. He also pushed a party-backed bill that would require up to five times damages, capped at 1 billion won ($699,736), for “false manipulation of information.” Yet even the national journalists’ union, once seen as an ally, condemned it as regressive and harmful to free expression.

Choo Mi-ae compared the Supreme Court’s chief of administration to Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi bureaucrat who organized the Holocaust, calling him the embodiment of the “banality of evil.” The DP also floated the idea of introducing a “fourth trial” — a constitutional petition system for court rulings — despite Korea’s existing three-tier court structure.

Choi Min-hee caused controversy in a parliamentary audit when she questioned the head of news at MBC about allegedly biased reporting and ordered him to leave the room. He had merely said it was inappropriate to question individual news decisions. The situation escalated when messages between Choi and an MBC correspondent were exposed. Choi wrote: “Someone tattles, they issue statements, it’s funny. Cowards. They never dare say that to the People Power Party.” The correspondent replied: “Yes, the problem is the ‘watermelon faction’ here. It was like this under the former CEO, too.” To critics, it looked as if a political authority had planted loyalists inside public broadcasting. Instead of safeguarding journalistic independence, the head of the National Assembly’s broadcasting committee undermined it.

Hard-liners in any administration tend to share traits. They frequently invoke “the people.” “I only look to the people and trust the people,” Jung wrote on Facebook on Aug. 10. Choo said, “I am asking on behalf of the people” during a National Assembly session on Oct. 13. Yet the “people” they refer to are often their partisan base, much like the illusion during the Moon Jae-in administration that his 70 to 80 percent approval rating meant a full mandate. President Lee Jae Myung’s current approval also includes disappointment in former president Yoon Suk Yeol. In a Gallup Korea poll before Chuseok, Lee’s approval fell 5 percent, and disapproval rose 3 percent. Gallup noted the drop reflected public backlash against hard-line actions such as pressure on the Supreme Court and the martial law debate. Public sentiment changes quickly.

Democratic Party lawmaker Choo Mi-ae, elected chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee during a plenary session at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on Aug. 21, greets Party Chairman Jung Cheong-rae as she leaves the chamber. [YONHAP]

These hard-liners also divide politics into absolute good and evil and aim to eradicate opponents. Under Moon, “eradicating deep-rooted evils” was the slogan; now it is “eliminating insurrectionist forces.” They do not trust that true democracy allows the ruling party to lose elections or that compromise between moderates ensures progress. During the Moon administration, their targets were prosecutors, Yoon Suk Yeol, and real estate critics — their push ultimately helped bring about a change in government. In the Yoon administration, hard-liners like Kim Yong-hyun aggressively attacked vague “anti-state forces” and met ruin.

Such figures have historically harmed presidents. Under Moon, Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae was seen by conservatives as the biggest contributor to the administration’s downfall. Under Park Chung Hee, presidential guard chief Cha Ji-cheol became a symbol of authoritarian excess. Under Chun Doo Hwan, hard-liners resisted constitutional reform until a wave of democratization toppled them. Under President Kim Young-sam, hawks rammed labor and intelligence laws through the Assembly, accelerating his lame duck status. They rarely face consequences — blame eventually lands on the president.

So, who is truly the president’s greatest enemy?

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.