Ex-PM Hwang joins LKP, vowing to unify party
Former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn joined the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) on Tuesday, pledging to tackle the Moon Jae-in administration’s economic policy and unify the conservatives. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and other opposition parties immediately criticized his entry into the political scene.
“I will stop the Moon Jae-in government whose economic policy has failed and led to civil unrest. I will do my best to make the country live well together,” Hwang said during a press conference at the National Assembly Tuesday.
“Employees at small firms and small and medium-sized firms, the self-employed and young jobseekers are suffering from a poor economy. I will do my best to unify conservatives.”
His move came one year and eight months after he stepped down as acting president, having assumed the role after the impeachment of then President Park Geun-hye. He served as justice minister and prime minister under the Park administration. While he was prime minister, Park was impeached in March 2017 due to a corruption scandal.
Insiders expected he joined the party to run in the party’s leadership election on Feb. 27 in preparation for running for presidency, as recent polls showed that conservative voters like Hwang the most as a presidential contender for the 2022 race.
When asked about his party leader- ship bid, he declined to answer but said he will decide it after listening to what LKP members, lawmakers and party branch chiefs say.
Over the criticism of his connection to the impeached president and his responsibility a key figure in the former administration, Hwang rejected criticism over his alleged role in Park’s scandal.
“It is wrong to say all public servants who worked in the former government should be treated as part of the scandal,” Hwang said.
“There is a need to evaluate what was done well and what went wrong as it is.”
The ruling DPK and minor opposition parties immediately went all-out to criticize his return, saying the LKP is going back to the days of Park Geun-hye.
“Hwang served as the justice minister and the prime minister as one of the key figures for the Park administration. He has a heavy responsibility for the political scandal related to Park and himself,” Kim Tae-nyeon, the DPK’s chief policymaker, said during a party meeting.
“Without any sincere apology, he has returned to the political arena as if he was a triumphant general receiving a hero’s welcome and is in the spotlight as a promising contender for the party’s leadership.”
Kim Kwan-young, the floor leader of the minor Bareunmirae Party, said it was not desirable for Hwang, who has a huge responsibility for the scandal to join the LKP for the general election as trials related to Park are underway.