Park Geun-hye appeals to supporters to join mainstream conservative opposition with letter from prison

Posted on : 2020-03-05 16:02 KST Modified on : 2020-03-05 17:38 KST
Politicians display mixed reactions to inflammatory message 40 days before parliamentary elections
Yu Yeong-ha, attorney of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, holds up a written message from Park calling on her far-right loyalists to join the mainstream conservative party on Mar. 4. (Yonhap News)
Yu Yeong-ha, attorney of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, holds up a written message from Park calling on her far-right loyalists to join the mainstream conservative party on Mar. 4. (Yonhap News)

Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who is currently in prison, sent a message to her supporters and to the country’s conservatives on Mar. 4, asking “even those who raised the Taegeukgi [South Korean flag] to join up with the main opposition party.” The conservative opposition unanimously welcomed her message, while the ruling Democratic Party criticized it as “rabble-rousing from behind bars.” But both sides are likely to be ill at ease as they wait to see how the public will react to the message from the former president, which comes at a sensitive time, just 40 days before the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Park, who’s currently incarcerated at the Seoul Detention Center, had her attorney, Yu Yeong-ha, release her handwritten message. “You may have disagreements and even unbridgeable gaps, but I appeal for everyone who raised the Taegeukgi [referring to her far-right loyalists who’ve departed from mainstream conservatives] to unite around the main opposition party so that we can improve the Republic of Korea,” she said. This was an overt appeal for her supporters to side with the United Future Party (UFP).

“Many people have seen their lives gradually become harder because of the incompetent, hypocritical and self-righteous current administration and complain that they don’t see any hope,” Park said, criticizing the Moon Jae-in administration. She continued: “I too have been disappointed by the main opposition party, with its politically motivated defections and mergers, but I’ve accepted such choices as being unavoidable if we’re to expand the conservative base. Now that you’re united, I’ll be right there beside you.”

This is the first official position statement that Park has released since beginning her prison sentence. Taking this political action, despite her incarceration, with a month left before the parliamentary elections is seemingly aimed at rallying the base and expanding her political influence. But it’s uncertain whether her political message will achieve the desired results. It might spur the unification of the conservative opposition, but it might instead drive a regrouping of the “candlelight forces” by invoking memories of her influence-peddling scandal and impeachment. It has the potential, after all, to frame the UFP as being under Park’s thumb.

There were conflicting reactions from politicians. The UFP leaders praised Park for her declaration of support, with party leader Hwang Kyo-ahn speaking of Park’s “touching letter” and Kim Hyeong-oh, nomination committee chair, talking about Park’s “righteous decision.” But the pro-Park contingent, including the Taegeukgi brigade, remain hesitant to return to the fold before the party nominations. In fact, the Taegeukgi brigade, the very group that Park asked to rejoin the main conservative opposition, is demanding that the UFP suspend its nomination process, which is already underway, and set up a list of coalition candidates instead.

In effect, Park’s message could trip up the UFP’s efforts to move beyond the impeachment debacle and recruit a large number of moderate conservatives. One of the figures involved with the conservatives’ unification drive expressed such concerns as follows: “The timing and content of the message aren’t good. It doesn’t contain any introspection or remorse, just a blatant get-out-the-vote message right before the election. This could have blindsided moderates disappointed with the current administration who were just about to consider voting for the conservatives. It could give the impression that the UFP has reverted to the old Saenuri Party.”

That possibility must have also appealed to the Democratic Party and other opposition parties, which pounced on Park. “By whipping up her supporters from prison as if she’s a persecuted politician, [Park] is denying the public’s decision to impeach her. Her duty is to be on her best behavior and pay for her crimes,” said Je Yun-gyeong, spokesperson for the Democratic Party’s election action committee.

Oh Hyeon-ju, spokesperson for the Justice Party, offered a stinging rebuke of her own. “At such a difficult time, the only expression of patriotism that’s allowed to Park Geun-hye is to quietly repent of her crimes.”

By Jung Yu-gyung, staff reporter

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