'A show of force by PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok'

People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok and party members chant slogans at the PPP's "People's Action Rally for Judging the Lee Jae Myung Administration, Restoring Livelihoods and Defending National Security" on Sejong-daero in front of Sungnyemun Gate in Seoul on Saturday. [Yonhap]
People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok and party members chant slogans at the PPP's "People's Action Rally for Judging the Lee Jae Myung Administration, Restoring Livelihoods and Defending National Security" on Sejong-daero in front of Sungnyemun Gate in Seoul on Saturday. [Yonhap]

The Democratic Party of Korea on Saturday criticized the People Power Party after the main opposition held a large rally near Sungnyemun Gate in Seoul denouncing the Lee Jae Myung administration, saying it could not help but ask "whether it is truly for the people for the No. 1 opposition party to take to the streets right before the national audit."

Floor spokesperson Jeon Eun-su made the remarks in a written briefing that day, calling the event "a show of force by PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok."

"The PPP held the exact same rally a year ago," Jeon said. "Today, too, the entire party abandoned the national audit and took to the streets — all to protect one party leader."

Jeon added that the PPP had shown "no reflection or introspection" over the past year. "It is a party that places internal power above the people — an anti-livelihood party," she said.

She also said that if livelihoods, the economy and national security were truly in dire straits, the party should do its job in the National Assembly. "Rigorously overseeing the government through the national audit and putting forward concrete, practical measures for people's livelihoods is the duty of the No. 1 opposition party," she said.

Democratic Party spokesperson Shin Hyeon-yeong also said in a briefing that "the intent behind the PPP's out-of-parliament rally — which came out of nowhere — has now been laid bare." She added that what poured out of a rally pushed through despite criticism, during a regular session when all efforts should be focused on preparing for the national audit, was "praise for leader Jang Dong-hyeok."

"They incited hardline supporters with extreme language and hate speech to keep the crumbling Jang Dong-hyeok leadership on life support," Shin said. "The rally was filled with extreme slogans such as 'Lee Jae Myung, step down' and 'We will drag Lee Jae Myung out of Cheong Wa Dae.'"

"The public can only be bewildered as to what good a street rally — of Jang Dong-hyeok, by Jang Dong-hyeok, for Jang Dong-hyeok — does for people's livelihoods," she added.


keg@heraldcorp.com