The main opposition Democratic United Party said Thursday that it would consider a parliamentary probe into the claim that a ruling party official attempted to intimidate professor Ahn Cheol-soo to stop him from running in December’s presidential election.
The party’s presidential contenders denounced the Saenuri Party, underscoring that its presidential candidate Rep. Park Geun-hye should take responsibility should the claim be true.
The claim by Ahn’s adviser Geum Tae-seop is apparently a chance for the DUP to turn the political tide in its favor amid a cash-for-candidacy scandal involving several key figures of the opposition party including DUP floor leader Rep. Park Jie-won.
“The claim reveals that the Saenuri Party is the new kind of forces seeking to take power through unpardonable illegal acts,” DUP spokesperson Park Yong-jin said in a commentary.
“It is the revival of the period of the dictatorial regime and the beginning of a nightmare, given that it allegedly sought to use information ― collected through illicit means ― to blackmail someone.”
Park’s remarks apparently targeted the Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate whose father is Park Chung-hee, a general-turned-president.
The late leader took power in a 1961 military coup and ruled the country until his assassination in 1979. He was touted for his efforts for national development, but criticized for his dictatorial governing style.
The DUP will convene a Supreme Council meeting on Friday to discuss measures over the claim, DUP floor leader Park told reporters.
“The forces that conduct political surveillance and threaten someone should face the public’s judgment,” he said. “This is not a matter that concerns one individual candidate. This is about the whole democracy.”
DUP Rep. Song Ho-chang, who is a close associate of Seoul National University professor Ahn, said that he will discuss with his party members a parliamentary probe and other measures to verify the truth.
“We should block the old-fashioned politics seen during the past regimes by general-turned-presidents from settling down here,” he said while attending the press conference held by Ahn’s advisor Geum.
The DUP’s presidential contenders pressured Rep. Park Geun-hye to unearth the story behind it.
“If it is true, it is like we are seeing the revival of the dictatorship and the reign of terror,” said Yun Kwan-seok, spokesperson for the DUP’s leading contender Rep. Moon Jae-in, referring to the period from the 1960s to 1980s when general-turned-presidents ruled the country.
“Rep. Park should ascertain the truth and if that turns out to be true, she may have to take responsibility for it.”
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
