What They Said is a weekly series on the quotes behind the headlines.
On September 13, the Office of the President named three people as candidates for ministerial positions: Shin Won-sik, National Assembly member for the People Power Party, for the position of Defense Minister; Kim Haeng, former spokesperson for the Park Geun-hye administration, for the position of the Minister of Gender Equality and Family; and Yu In-chon, actor and former Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism under the Lee Myung-bak administration in 2008, for that position once again.
The naming of the candidates immediately sparked objection from the opposition parties, as well as among the People Power Party, by those who have been critical of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.
Of particular note, the Democratic Party of Korea rallied against the Defense Minister candidate Shin Won-sik. Between 2019 and 2020, Shin attended and spoke at a number of “Taegeukgi rallies”[1] led by Jeon Kwang-hoon, an ultra-right wing pastor and politician.
During the rally, in explaining the history of the “wartime operational control” in South Korea, Shin said:
“…The man named Roh Moo-hyun, the first demon who gave birth to the demon called Moon Jae-in today, became the president. This entire problem arose when he started the whole transfer of wartime operational control.”
[2]
— Shin Won-sik, candidate for the Minister of Defense, July 1, 2019
In regards to the Moon Jae-in administration’s efforts to have the wartime operational control, which is under the ROK/US Combined Forces Command, transferred over to South Korea, he claimed:
“…I would like for you to clearly understand that the essence of [the transfer] is nothing more than the left wing’s maneuver to make the US military leave South Korea, a cunning maneuver to offer up the Republic of Korea to Kim Jong Un…”
[3]
— Shin Won-sik, candidate for the Minister of Defense, July 1, 2019
In another video that has since been made private, Shin also claimed:
“No matter how evil Moon Jae-in may be, we should at least give him a week [to step down]. Come down when we are telling you nicely. But what if he doesn’t? That’s right. We should march in and drag him out, and just like how David took Goliath’s sword, we should cut off his head.”
[4]
— Shin Won-sik, candidate for the Minister of Defense, October 1, 2019
The Democratic Party denounced Shin and asserted that appointing someone with such an extreme political view was President Yoon Suk Yeol’s “declaration to continue governing out of control” and a “proclamation of war without retreat against the opposition parties.”
Shin Won-sik himself did not offer any other explanation regarding such remarks, other than that he would express his views at the hearing for nominees.
On September 18, Yoo Seong-min, former National Assembly member for the People Power Party, spoke his mind about the three candidates on a morning radio show on MBC hosted by Kim Jong-bae.
“…It seems like he wants to fight, openly. This reshuffling of the State Council is openly advocating for a direct confrontation, that’s how I see it. Whether it’s a conservative or progressive president, I believe that one of the primary duties during a president’s first term is to unify and bring the people together. Of course, achieving 100% unity is not easy, especially considering that there are some who oppose for the sake of opposition. However, the goal is to unify people’s hearts and energies as much as possible. But looking at this current reshuffle, President Yoon Suk Yeol is clearly taking the lead in what he calls an ideological battle. He’s putting his State Council members together to engage in this fight.”
[5]
— Yoo Seong-min, former National Assembly member for the People Power Party, September 18, 2023
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