By Choi Ha-young
The tough-talking leader of the largest conservative Liberty Korea Party (LKP), Hong Joon-pyo, alleged Thursday that "pro-North Korea" officials in Seoul are damaging the Korea-U.S. alliance.
While speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C., Hong said, "Those who previously staged anti-America rallies to oppose the presence of U.S. forces in Korea and the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense are now mainstream decision-makers in the incumbent administration.
"Rifts in the Korea-U.S. alliance caused by the pro-North Korea forces are more threatening than North Korea."
The conservative leader also blasted President Moon Jae-in's peace overtures toward Pyongyang, saying Seoul's North Korea policy is bewildering Koreans.
"Despite the U.S. and international society's joint moves to impose harsher sanctions against the North, Moon decided to provide $8 million in humanitarian aid to Pyongyang."
In South Korean politics, it has been common for conservatives to launch ideological attacks against liberals for their own political interests, using the negative sentiment toward North Korea.
"Using such an anachronistic term, pro-North Korea, doesn't deserve any analysis," Yongin University Professor Choi Chang-ryul said.
"Hong may have adopted the strategy possibly to rally around conservative voters here, but anyhow, he is unqualified to lead the largest conservative party. He should resign right away."
Yoon Tae-gon, a senior political analyst at The Moa Agenda & Strategy, said, "I think Hong is attempting to reach out to American conservatives by highlighting its hawkish stance toward Pyongyang, but I don't think it has worked."
Hong arrived in the U.S. Monday to call for the redeployment of American tactical nuclear weapons in Korea.
Parties here are jointly up in arms against Hong's "irresponsible" remarks.
"I even doubted what I heard," ruling Democratic Party of Korea floor leader Woo Won-shik said Thursday. "Even though we are working for different parties, I feel so ashamed that we are in the same age."
The People's Party called for Hong to "refrain from visiting the U.S.," saying his visit "would not be helpful for the national interest," party spokesman Kim Chul-keun said. "The Moon administration is a legal government endorsed by an election. Hong's remarks only reveal his far-rightist ideology."
The progressive Justice Party echoed the point. "Hong is trying to sink the nation into a pit for his political benefit," spokesman Choi Seok said.
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| Hong Joon-pyo |
While speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C., Hong said, "Those who previously staged anti-America rallies to oppose the presence of U.S. forces in Korea and the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense are now mainstream decision-makers in the incumbent administration.
"Rifts in the Korea-U.S. alliance caused by the pro-North Korea forces are more threatening than North Korea."
The conservative leader also blasted President Moon Jae-in's peace overtures toward Pyongyang, saying Seoul's North Korea policy is bewildering Koreans.
"Despite the U.S. and international society's joint moves to impose harsher sanctions against the North, Moon decided to provide $8 million in humanitarian aid to Pyongyang."
In South Korean politics, it has been common for conservatives to launch ideological attacks against liberals for their own political interests, using the negative sentiment toward North Korea.
"Using such an anachronistic term, pro-North Korea, doesn't deserve any analysis," Yongin University Professor Choi Chang-ryul said.
"Hong may have adopted the strategy possibly to rally around conservative voters here, but anyhow, he is unqualified to lead the largest conservative party. He should resign right away."
Yoon Tae-gon, a senior political analyst at The Moa Agenda & Strategy, said, "I think Hong is attempting to reach out to American conservatives by highlighting its hawkish stance toward Pyongyang, but I don't think it has worked."
Hong arrived in the U.S. Monday to call for the redeployment of American tactical nuclear weapons in Korea.
Parties here are jointly up in arms against Hong's "irresponsible" remarks.
"I even doubted what I heard," ruling Democratic Party of Korea floor leader Woo Won-shik said Thursday. "Even though we are working for different parties, I feel so ashamed that we are in the same age."
The People's Party called for Hong to "refrain from visiting the U.S.," saying his visit "would not be helpful for the national interest," party spokesman Kim Chul-keun said. "The Moon administration is a legal government endorsed by an election. Hong's remarks only reveal his far-rightist ideology."
The progressive Justice Party echoed the point. "Hong is trying to sink the nation into a pit for his political benefit," spokesman Choi Seok said.
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