Justice Party candidate Sim pledges middle power diplomacy, lambasts Lee-Yoon TV debate as undemocratic

From left, the People Power Party's Yoon Suk-yeol, the Democratic Party of Korea's Lee Jae-myung and the Justice Party's Sim Sang-jung greet each other at a forum hosted by the daily news outlet, Hankook Economy, at the Grand Walkerhill Seoul in November 2021. Joint Press Corps.

By Ko Dong-hwan

Presidential candidate Sim Sang-jung acknowledges that Korea's geopolitical position and stance are situated uneasily between the United States and China, but she doesn't view that fact pessimistically. She says that there is still room for Korea as a middle power to make its voice heard and influence global affairs, and that, if elected, she will try to figure out how the country can do that, working towards peace in the East Asia region.

Sim argues that the U.S.-China rivalry in East Asia calls for Korea to have a unique and definitive role on the global stage. While describing Korea's alliance with the United States, as the most crucial to national security, she explained that the country can perform other diplomatic strategies at the same time.

While the diplomatic vision of the minor progressive Justice Party's presidential candidate represents her future plans, her presence in domestic affairs has already tested her patience. Recently, her relatively low support rating compelled her to put a stop to her presidential campaigning for a soul-searching break. Coming back from the five-day hiatus, she has been sharply chastising both the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) for holding a TV debate of their own during the Lunar New Year holiday at the end of this month, excluding candidates from other parties ― including herself. (The debate was banned on Wednesday by a court that accepted an injunction request from minor People's Party candidate Ahn Cheol-soo to stop it for being unfair and monopolistic.)

However, Sim has enjoyed some cheerful moments too as a lawmaker and holding the helm of the country's minor progressive party, passionately representing social minority groups, over the past 20 years. She recently got back a high-profile ally of her election camp, Chin Jung-kwon, who left the party two years ago, over the party keeping silent about Cho Kuk's nomination as justice minister, which she later admitted was her biggest political blunder so far. She still crosses her fingers when reminding herself of the nickname given to her by her constituency in the Gyeonggi provincial city of Goyang, which became her most famous moniker. From Korea's "iron lady" fighting major party lawmakers, to a friendly neighbor of her local supporters, Sim shared with The Korea Times her candid thoughts on her versatile role as well as some emotional moments.

Q. How will your diplomacy with the U.S. and China differ from that of the Moon Jae-in administration?

A. Korea has been walking on eggshells not to upset the U.S. or China. We've been acting like we are a victim of the two countries. Likewise, with regard to North Korea, we have been no more than a shy moderator between North Korea and the U.S. But in fact, we are now the world's 10th-largest economy, which entitles us to our own realm of diplomacy. So, we must strongly object to any political framing that questions us, in terms of whether we're on the U.S. side or the Chinese side.

There is a basketball technique called the "pivot," in which one foot remains on the floor while the other foot moves, to avoid any foul. The Seoul-Washington alliance, which most effectively serves to preserve our international security, is the foot on which we pivot, while the other free foot is our momentum to maximize our diplomatic capability, to support world peace and global partnerships, for instance. We shouldn't be manipulated by global powers but rather steadfastly carry out balanced diplomacy, leading efforts toward global peace. We (or rather Samsung Electronics) already joined America's Next G Alliance in 2020 (an initiative consisting of 16 global telecommunication technology and semiconductor leaders working on 6G networks). We can also form green alliances with China and other Asian countries to develop renewable energy technologies to fight climate change.

Sim Sang-jung hugs one of her supporters during her 2017 presidential election campaign near Sungshin Women's University in Seoul. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Q. What are your thoughts on the DPK's Lee Jae-myung and the PPP's Yoon Suk-yeol having their own TV debate during the Lunar New Year holiday?

A. (Their) one-on-one debate that will be broadcast nationwide on TV isn't democratic (because the other presidential candidates were not invited to it and thus have no chance to present their views on the given issues). Democracy's root principle is to respect the voices of the voiceless. Therefore, Lee and Yoon shouldn't be the only candidates making their voices known to the public (simply because they represent the largest two parties), but the policies and visions of Sim, as well as of Ahn Cheol-soo (the presidential candidate of minor People's Party), should also be shared with the people. Doing that would serve our citizens' rights to know. Lee and Yoon, while having refused to hold a TV debate with all of the four candidates during the upcoming holiday, instead fought over the controversial seven-hour phone records of Yoon's wife, Kim Kun-hee (which raised the possibility of her acting as a shadowy influence behind her husband), encouraging people to watch TV news shows and YouTube, which revealed those records. Is this truly democracy? No. Lee and Yoon both colluded in discriminating against minority parties, ignoring legitimate election campaign practices. This is a clear violation of both the country's broadcast act and election laws.

Q. What did you do during your five-day hiatus?

A. Frankly, I was quite ill during the first day. My heart felt so heavy and my thoughts seemed so abysmal in the midst of the extremely busy election campaigning schedule. So, the first day, I felt like I had symptoms of vertigo and so I just slept the entire day. And I thought about what to do next. I didn't meet anyone during the five days, except the head of my party, Yeo Young-kug, who visited me once.

Q. Political commentator Chin Jung-kwon has joined your party again after leaving it two years ago. What are your thoughts on that?

A. It is a welcome development that those who had left the party or withdrew their support because of our party's misjudgments or mistakes are now coming back to the party. I hope that not only Chin but other former supporters who were previously disappointed with our party and distanced themselves from us might come back to the party.

After I held a press conference following my five-day break to resume my election campaign, I got a flood of supportive text-messages from those who had left the party. I hope they all rejoin our party. I have spent the last 20 years with this party, but I want the future generation of lawmakers to move forward and pursue a new progressive movement in this presidential election campaign.

Q. You have several popular nicknames, like "Sim-vely," "Sim-crush," and "General Sim." What's your favorite nickname?

A. I like "Sim-vely" (a portmanteau of her last name and "lovely") the most. Many people think I got this nickname during my previous presidential bid in 2017. But in fact, it was before that when I first met my local constituency in the northwestern Gyeonggi Province city of Goyang as a proportional representative. They said that they thought I looked fierce on TV but when they saw me in person, they said I looked much younger, cooler and as comfortable as their next-door neighbor. That's when they gave me that nickname. I consider it a sign of my constituency's faith in me, so I like it the most. What could a politician possibly want more than the love of citizens?