Lee Jung Hee, the left wing presidential candidate for the United Progressive Party, has incited controversy in conservative quarters by referring to the South Korean government as “the government of the south side” during last night’s televised presidential debate, which she appeared on as third candidate alongside Moon Jae In and Park Geun Hye.
Ordinarily, the only place where South Korea is referred to in such terms is in the North Korean state media, causing some conservative commentators to brand her a ‘spokeswoman’ for the North. This characterization was lent further weight when she referred to North Korea’s upcoming long-range rocket launch as that of a ‘working satellite’ and called the Cheonan sinking an “incident” rather than an “attack” or a “sinking.”
Making a broader point at one moment during the debate, Lee declared, “At the time of the Cheonan incident it was like that, but the north said that it wasn’t them and the government of the south side said…” before realizing her error and changing her phraseology to “Our Republic of Korea government said it was North Korea’s responsibility,” before adding, “That is why inter-Korean relations are frozen.”
Meanwhile, regarding North Korea’s upcoming launch, she asserted, “The important thing is that North Korea keeps saying that it is a working satellite,” and regarding the strained state of inter-Korean relations, she noted, “(During former President Roh Moo Hyun’s time) the conservative forces attacked and vetoed remittances to North Korea, halting the progress of inter-Korea relations.”
At one point, Saenuri Party candidate Park Geun Hye came close to declaring Lee a pro-North sympathizer, asserting, “I hear that candidate Lee and the United Progressive Party as a whole does not salute the flag or sing the anthem,” to which Lee responded, “When I was head of the Democratic Labor Party I did all the state formalities during the inauguration ceremony; I don’t understand why you cannot remember that. What you just said is not what happened; you ought to have come here better prepared.”
Visibly agitated and threatening the limits of civilized debate, Lee went on to add, “I came here to ensure that candidate Park Geun Hye loses this election,” before asserting, “The pro-Japanese descendant of a dictator candidate Park Geun Hye and her Saenuri Party have sold off our economic sovereignty with the illegitimate passing of the KORUS FTA. She is not even good enough to sing the anthem.”
