Hwang’s political gamble

EDITORIAL Park Geun-hye’s prime minister joins main opposition

Former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn’s debut as a politician this week has invited mixed reviews.

Hwang held a press conference Tuesday to announce he was joining the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP). Speculation is rising that he will run for the party leadership at its convention, Feb. 27, and ultimately aim to be the LKP’s presidential candidate.

Hwang’s announcement comes amid an absence of proper leadership in the main opposition. The LKP has been slammed for its failure to change following the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye. Ex-Chairman Hong Joon-pyo, who ran in the presidential election against President Moon Jae-in, has aggravated public opinion of the party with his outbursts.

It is too early to tell whether Hwang has the capacity to adequately fill the LKP’s leadership void. As a public official, he had an illustrious career, having served in powerful posts such as justice minister from 2013 through 2015 and prime minister during the previous Park administration.

Most of the criticism against his sudden emergence as a politician stems from his strong ties with Park. Many still associate him with the impeached former president as he served as her last prime minister and took on the post of the nation’s acting president when the Constitutional Court of Korea removed Park from office in March 2017.

He served in the post until Moon was elected in the presidential election in May the same year.

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and other parties claimed it was inappropriate for him to enter politics when he had not shown remorse for his past. Even some LKP members are displeased with Hwang’s decision to join their party as his presence could send out the undesirable signal that the LKP has gone back to being Park’s party.

It will be a long shot for Hwang to fulfill his political ambitions. Past prime ministers who entered politics and tried to become president, such as Lee Hoi-chang, have failed. Some worry Hwang lacks the leadership and character that are essential for surviving in the political world.

During the Tuesday press conference, Hwang criticized President Moon’s economic failures and claimed he had undermined national security. He also called for national unity. But he refused to be labeled as part of the “old evils” that the Moon administration has tried to get rid of just because he served in the Park administration. For those who supported Park’s ouster, the remark could be viewed as arrogant.

Hwang has a pretty good reputation among some of the older generation who supported Park and has an image of a reliable public official. But that will not be enough for him to succeed in politics.

Only time will tell if Hwang is a timely addition to the LKP, or a shameful burden.