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Liberty Korea Party floor leader Na Kyung-won attacks the policies of South Korean President Moon Jae-in during a speech at the National Assembly on Mar. 12. (Kim Gyoung-ho, staff photographer)
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Na Kyung-won refers to S. Korean president as Kim Jong-un‘s “senior spokesperson”
Liberty Korea Party (LKP) floor leader Na Kyung-won heaped criticisms on the Moon Jae-in administration during a floor negotiation group representative’s speech in the National Assembly on Mar. 12, denouncing what she described as “left-wing ideological dictatorship.” Her remarks appeared as part of a strategy for entering a heated battle with the ruling party - staking out a clear ideological position by going after President Moon and his administration with harsh words. The move provoked unusually strong protests from the Democratic Party, which halted Na‘s speech and made clear its intent not to back down in the face of the LKP’s upcoming offensive. In an hour-long speech that day, Na, as the floor leader of the first conservative opposition party, attacked the Moon administration‘s security and economic policies as “left-wing dictatorship” and “monopolizing constitutional government.” Blasting Moon’s commitment to North Korean denuclearization as “questionable,” she triggered an eruption from the ruling party by characterizing Moon as “[North Korean leader] Kim Jong-un‘s senior spokesman.” Na further lambasted the administration’s economic policies - including raising the minimum wage, shifting away from nuclear power, and dismantling weirs from the Four Major Rivers Project - as “unconstitutional” and contrary to the free market order. The LKP insisted Na‘s hardline remarks were simply reflecting popular discontent with the administration. “[Na] was speaking for the public, who are fed up and suffering under the administration’s mismanagement,” said LKP Policy Committee Chair Jeong Yong-ki in a telephone interview with the Hankyoreh. “If anything, she toned it down because it‘s the National Assembly,” he added. “The people will judge the ruling party for its uncomprehending response,” he said. Observers in and around the political world said Na’s speech offered an indication of the LKP‘s strategy going ahead. The LKP to lead aggressive offensive against Democratic Party “Since their new system was launched under leader Hwang Kyo-ahn, they’ve set a course for the party with a high-intensity battle against the ruling party, and [Na‘s] speech fell along those lines,” said Kim Hyeong-joon, professor at Myongji University, in a telephone interview with the Hankyoreh. After being routed in last year’s local elections, the LKP continued for seven months under an “emergency committee” system. The lack of leadership led to critics in and around the party claiming it had lost its ability to battle the ruling party. Now, with the “convention effect” from Hwang‘s coronation as party leader last month and rising LKP support levels on the back of fading approval ratings for the Moon administration, it is shifting again into “pitched battle” mode. Not only did the far-right “Taegeukgi Brigade” establish itself as a powerful force inside the LKP during the party convention on Feb. 27, but party leader Hwang Kyo-ahn himself leans toward hardline conservativism. This combination makes it likely that the party will move further to the right to consolidate its base. During a meeting with reporters after a party event on Tuesday, Hwang took issue with Democratic Party members’ shutdown of Na‘s speech in the National Assembly. “There’s nothing democratic about Democratic Party lawmakers running up and shouting at the floor leader of the leading opposition party in the middle of a speech and preventing her from continuing. The Democratic Party must apologize,” Hwang said. Democratic Party responds strongly to Na‘s speech Responding to the Democratic Party’s plans to refer Na to the ethics committee for the “crime of denigrating the president,” Hwang said, “What‘s the point of talking about a nonexistent crime? If they take such an inappropriate step, we’ll respond with really firm action.” The Democratic Party‘s extreme response to Na’s speech - forcing her to stop and even causing a scuffle - appears to have reflected the belief that the party has to counter the offensive by the LKP, which has been doubling down on its own fight against the Moon administration since Hwang‘s takeover of the party. “Na Kyung-won’s speech today showed that she‘s not much different from the Taegeukgi Brigade. It showed that she’s the same as Hwang Kyo-ahn and that she means to follow in the footsteps of [LKP lawmaker] Kim Jin-tae. If we don‘t strongly condemn the Liberty Korea Party, our major partner in the National Assembly, for lurching to the right, we would be abandoning our responsibility,” said Democratic Party floor leader Kang Byung-won in a phone call with the Hankyoreh. That’s prompting analysts to regard the confrontation today as being an early skirmish in the major showdown that will take place between the parties leading up to the parliamentary elections next year. By Lee Kyung-mi and Kim Tae-gyu, staff reporters Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
