Ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker Ha Tae Kyung commented today on the case of embattled United Progressive Party lawmakers Lee Seok Gi and Kim Jae Yeon, “These so-called ‘young leaders’ got support from their constituencies because of their diligence, sincerity and friendliness, but once their supporters learn a bit more their true colors will be exposed.”

Called upon to talk about his former years as a left wing activist to a forum held by the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, Ha went on, “These followers of the Juche ideology put their human faces out there so as to gain popularity, and because of this they were elected as lawmakers.”

He added, “The pro-Juche faction stresses diligence and sincerity, things which are emphasized in the Juche ‘character ideology’, so people around them end up looking only at their personalities not their pro-Juche nature, which leads them to follow behind.”

“They take advantage of the anti-American sentiment of the people to get support,” he went on. “While the KORUS-FTA beef issue saw huge protests, the South Korea-China and South Korea-EU FTAs have not seen serious public anger [because there is no pro-Juche element to drive it].”

The best way to unveil such people, Ha claimed, is “to ask them about North Korea’s leader and the 3rd generation succession,” since “they cannot say anything basically critical about the succession.”