Democratic United Party chairwoman Han Myeong-sook on Monday
fired back at Park Geun-hye, the chief of the ruling party who called the
opposition group’s mobile phone voting system for its primaries corrupt.
“Rep. Park used the phrase ‘an epitome of political corruption’ to describe our mobile voting system. I think that she is the ‘epitome of ignorance’ to say something like that as the leader of the ruling party in this era of 20 million mobile phone users,” Han said in a debate session at the Kwanhun Club on Monday.
Corruption and other irregularities have prevailed in past elections and they have been seen in this election, too. Yet, it is not because the votes are cast through mobile phones, Han stressed.
“It is a major mistake that Rep. Park opposed the revision of election rules to introduce mobile balloting,” she added.
The largest opposition party adopted a mobile balloting system to select its candidates for the April 11 parliamentary election.
Suspicions arose that its members attempted to collect smart phone users inappropriately to win more votes in the mobile ballot. Last month, a voluntary campaigner for one of its lawmakers jumped to their death in Gwangju, while undergoing the election watchdog’s investigation into illicit campaigning.
Exactly a week ago at the same place, Park had assailed the DUP for what she called a turnaround on the legacy of former liberal President Roh Moo-hyun.
By legacy, she meant the planned construction of a naval base on the southern resort island of Jeju and the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. The DUP opposes the ongoing construction of the naval base and wants to revise large parts of the trade deal, set to take effect on Thursday.
President Lee Myung-bak also called the liberal opposition party “irresponsible,” saying it is flip-flopping on major national projects.
“If you’re just a middle manager, you don’t have the authority and responsibility to change a plan, even if it’s critically flawed. But a leader should be different,” Han said, in a thinly veiled attack on Lee.
She said the government should listen to the people when pushing for a plan, and Jeju residents are so strongly against it.
“We’re not denying the need for a new naval base for security reasons. But the current plan has so many procedural problems,” she added.
On the Korea-U.S. FTA, Han said that the Roh administration rushed for a deal and failed to see its problems.
The DUP, claiming that the current FTA is biased against Korea, vows to remove some “toxic” clauses in the pact through renegotiations.
By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldm.com)
“Rep. Park used the phrase ‘an epitome of political corruption’ to describe our mobile voting system. I think that she is the ‘epitome of ignorance’ to say something like that as the leader of the ruling party in this era of 20 million mobile phone users,” Han said in a debate session at the Kwanhun Club on Monday.
Corruption and other irregularities have prevailed in past elections and they have been seen in this election, too. Yet, it is not because the votes are cast through mobile phones, Han stressed.
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| Han Myeong-sook, leader of the main opposition Democratic United Party, speaks in a debate organized by senior journalists in Seoul on Monday. (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald) |
“It is a major mistake that Rep. Park opposed the revision of election rules to introduce mobile balloting,” she added.
The largest opposition party adopted a mobile balloting system to select its candidates for the April 11 parliamentary election.
Suspicions arose that its members attempted to collect smart phone users inappropriately to win more votes in the mobile ballot. Last month, a voluntary campaigner for one of its lawmakers jumped to their death in Gwangju, while undergoing the election watchdog’s investigation into illicit campaigning.
Exactly a week ago at the same place, Park had assailed the DUP for what she called a turnaround on the legacy of former liberal President Roh Moo-hyun.
By legacy, she meant the planned construction of a naval base on the southern resort island of Jeju and the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. The DUP opposes the ongoing construction of the naval base and wants to revise large parts of the trade deal, set to take effect on Thursday.
President Lee Myung-bak also called the liberal opposition party “irresponsible,” saying it is flip-flopping on major national projects.
“If you’re just a middle manager, you don’t have the authority and responsibility to change a plan, even if it’s critically flawed. But a leader should be different,” Han said, in a thinly veiled attack on Lee.
She said the government should listen to the people when pushing for a plan, and Jeju residents are so strongly against it.
“We’re not denying the need for a new naval base for security reasons. But the current plan has so many procedural problems,” she added.
On the Korea-U.S. FTA, Han said that the Roh administration rushed for a deal and failed to see its problems.
The DUP, claiming that the current FTA is biased against Korea, vows to remove some “toxic” clauses in the pact through renegotiations.
By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldm.com)
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