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| Election night: Members of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and its satellite party Civil Together sit as they wait for election results to be announced on TV amid a media frenzy, April 15. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
By Kang Hyun-kyung
A gigantic party was born.
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea swept the April 15 National Assembly elections by winning 180 seats out of the 300-member parliament.
The election results were a foregone conclusion, even though the ruling party and the Moon Jae-in government were reeling from the aftermath of a series of corruption scandals involving some of its key members.
How were they able to achieve such a landslide win?
Well, the answer is simple. The main opposition party was incompetent.
Plus, the ruling camp's last-minute strategy worked. The Moon government tried to regain public trust by playing the "COVID-19 card" and playing up its role in South Korea's effective response to the pandemic.
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| Animal rights advocates: Activists hold a news conference at Gwanghwamun Square, central Seoul, urging voters to cast their ballots for candidates who care about animal rights, April 10. Korea Time photo by Choi Won-suk |
The ruling party won the election not because they did a good job but because the opposition was not there for the voters.
With 180 seats, the ruling camp is able to do anything, short of revising the Constitution which requires the approval of two-thirds of the sitting lawmakers.
Post-election politics have become a tale of self-destructive hubris. The Moon government has gone wayward, turning a deaf ear to the public's outcry over mismanagement of the economy and housing issues. It pushed several controversial bills for its own sake, causing many to worry about the direction the nation is heading.
Some despair that democracy is endangered.
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| #MeToo: Activists join a rally near City Hall subway station in Seoul, July 28, calling for the government to conduct a thorough investigation into the late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon over allegations that he sexually harassed his secretary. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon cut his life short amid allegations that he had sexually harassed his secretary for years. Some politicians traumatized Park's former secretary by calling her "a self-claimed victim." Their double standards on #MeToo victims left the public sick and tired of politicians with self-serving goals.
Park, who rose to prominence as a human rights lawyer and advocate for the socially vulnerable, has escaped accountability with one final selfish act, preventing the victim from ever receiving an apology.
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| BLM in Korea: Protestors chant anti-racism slogans during a news conference to commemorate George Floyd in front of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, June 5. Floyd's death at the hands of the police sparked massive anti-racism protests in the United States and around the world. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
The U.S.-born Black Lives Matter movement landed in South Korea. It sparked scattered anti-racism rallies across the country which is still predominantly ethnically homogeneous with a less than 3-percent foreign-born population. Protesters paid their tributes to the late George Floyd.
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| Slow day for vendors: Vendors in Seoul's famous Namdaemun Market sell dumplings, April 14. Vendors' suffering from the consequences of the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic have continued as customer numbers have dwindled. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
Difficult times for street vendors continued due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.
Once-crowded shopping streets are now vacant. Slow days continue as worried customers no longer show up over fears of virus infection.
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