A UPP member of the National Assembly being followed by a protester on her first day
Aftershocks from the general election in April have finally reached another landmark. With the widely publicized internal strife that is slowly imploding the Unified Progressive Party (UPP), it is widely expected they will split up into smaller, more ideologically-coherent parties instead of forming a coalition with the center-left opposition Democratic United Party (DUP). And with the National Assembly having just opened, there has been a growing call from the conservatives to block the entry of a number of MPs who are suspected of harboring explicitly pro-North Korean sentiment.
UPP is widely thought to be a loose coalition of left-wing political elements in South Korea, composed of labor unions, progressives intellectuals, a hardcore Leninist national liberation faction commonly known as NL (National Liberation), and a Marxist populist faction known as PD (Popular Democracy). The NL and PD are often thought to be sympathetic to, if not downright supportive of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. UPP is sending 6 proportional MPs to the National Assembly.
A lawyer-cum-conservative pundit Mr. Jun Won-chek, a popular (by some) political pundit who often thought to have furnished impetus for male rights movement, has condensed this tortured ideological state of affairs to one simple litmus test.
Extract from Daum:
Conservative pundit drops the B word on air…
The self-proclaimed conservative pundit-cum-lawyer Jun Won-chek(57) is at the center of controversy over his comment during the TV debate program.
Mr. Jun appeared on ‘Live Late-night debate’ on KBS on the 26th and discussed the theme of ‘Pro-North Korean faction entering the National Assembly, how should we see this?’ together with 3 other panelists.
On it, Mr. Jun said ‘If you are an MP for the Republic of Korea it should not be any problem for you to say ‘At least I do not support the regime of Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un. In other words, if you are asked the question ‘Are Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un sons of bitches?’, and your answer is unreservedly ‘yes, they indeed sons of bitches’ then they are cleared of the charge of pro-North Korean stance.’ This comments was seen as inappropriate for broadcasting standard.
When the discussion chair Prof. Wang Sang-han tried to block his comment as inappropriate, Jun quickly retorted ‘Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un are sons of bitches, aren’t they? Why is that so inappropriate?’.
Mr. Jun’s comment was made in the context of criticizing the previous debate panelist appeared on MBC’s ‘100 Minutes Debate’ in which the MP-elect Lee Sang-Gyu (47) of the Unified Progressive Party dodged answering the question of his pro-North Korean stance. Mr. Lee defended his position on the basis of ‘asking a question that is framed in such a way that restricts freedom of conscience.’
Professor Jo Gi-Sook of Ewha Woman’s University (former Blue house spokesperson) criticized him for his general ignorance of ‘liberal democracy.’
Korean netizens’ reactions went off the chart. Some of the more conservative online web-boards have praised him as ‘the Great Jun.’
More progressive netizens pointed out that ‘ideological litmus test is often carried out by repeated calls to say ‘Kim Dae-jung is a bitch,’ or ‘Kim Jong-il is a son of bitch’ and criticized for Mr. Jun’s childish indulgence on McCarthyistic ‘ideological interrogation.”
Professor Jin Jung-kwon who urged Mr. Lee to clarify his position on North Korea wrote on his Twitter that ‘sukols’ [slur for far-rightists] better expect to be treated like vermin ‘if they answer wrong when asked if ‘Lee Myung-bak is a rat’.
Comments from Daum:
야슬:
YOU are the evil of society and scum conservative… I mean, there is no such thing as a conservative, only animals there.
김재벌:
To draw a knife against freedom, that is exactly what Hitler wanted!!!
유엔아이:
This is really gone too far, how could he say such a thing on TV? Are you sure you are a South Korean? Mr. Jun has no sympathy for the dogs that are being made comparison of. Dogs do deserve a right to be compared to someone their equal.
hong:
Kim Jong-un, Kim Jung-il are all sons of bitches. Lee Myung-bak is also a son of bitch, in my honest opinion.
쓴소리단소리:
SO REFRESHING
크루즈:
Such a brave spirit. It is for these people that South Korea is able to maintain its course. Idiots think they are being human-like when they talk but the people with true honest are not that many.
청산유수:
Here the jongbook [those who are pro-North Korea] SONS of B.I.T.C.H.E.S. are crawling here he he he he
불멸의 천건남:
My dog at home… he must be insulted…
유대연:
Isn’t DPRK the chief enemy of ROK? So why is that out of line for an MP to call Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un sons of bitches?
artarat:
Idiots.. Watching those debating programs make me angry
zanzan:
REFRESHING
건전한삶:
Dog Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun produced many many jongbook converts – in Joella province many people think the Korean War was started by South Korea.
ㅇㄹㅀ:
Jongbook reporters’ characteristic 1. Lee Myung-bak, Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan get criticized for being dictators 2. Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un dynastic inheritance never gets mentioned.
가교:
Oh Won-chun is a son of bitch, is that TV-inappropriate? Far worse than Oh, why is calling that murderous Kim Jong-il an SOB a problem?
후니아이:
We see the intellectual level of sukols [slur for far-rightists]… Trying to debate with them is nonsense….
구름 나그네:
Mr. Jun, your head is full of shit. You speak whatever bubbles up in your mind. Jongbook is a problem and so are the conservatives.
봄날그푸르른자유를위하여:
Make them say ‘Park Chung-hee is a son of bitch.’ If you cannot say it, then clearly you don’t believe in democracy.
