'Conservative voters' voices are not just passionate — they're fierce'
'My position on election fraud claims is clear — Cho Kuk is the pot calling the kettle black'
'Stop playing politics and let's talk about Pyeongtaek'
People Power Party candidate Yoo Eui-dong, running in the June 3 Pyeongtaek B National Assembly by-election, said Sunday he would keep pushing for a candidate consolidation with Hwang Kyo-ahn of the Freedom and Innovation Party "until the very last moment."
Speaking in an interview on SBS Radio's "Kim Tae-hyun's Politics Show," Yoo said conservative voters in the district were sending an unmistakable signal. "In some ways, the voices of conservative voters in the area are not just passionate — they're fierce," he said. "That's why I believe we must follow the mandate those voters are giving us."
Yoo said he had visited Hwang once, as he had previously disclosed to the press, but had not met with him since. He added that respected community figures in the district had volunteered to serve as go-betweens, shuttling messages between the two camps. "They continue to do so, and I continue to listen to what they bring," he said.
When asked about remarks by rival candidate Cho Kuk of the Rebuilding Korea Party — who called it "sophistry" to join hands with Hwang, whom he described as a believer in election fraud theories and a suspect in the insurrection case — Yoo dismissed the criticism as "classic Cho Kuk hypocrisy." "My position on election fraud claims is fundamentally clear," he said.
He drew a distinction, however, between outright fraud allegations and legitimate criticism of election administration. "Issues that emerged during President Lee Jae-myung's early voting process, and how they were handled, are fair game for criticism," he said. "But claims of outright election fraud are something most ordinary citizens find very hard to get behind."
Yoo then turned the question back on Cho. "I'd like to ask him something in return," he said. "Does he happen to know who was pushing election fraud theories after the 18th presidential election? That person even turned those claims into a film — 'The Plan' — and the person who produced and appeared in it was none other than Kim Eui-jun."
He went on to say that Kim could be seen as the very originator of the election fraud narrative in South Korea. "Candidate Cho has not merely joined hands with Kim Eui-jun — the two appear together on broadcasts so frequently they might as well be one person," Yoo said. "So does that mean Candidate Cho also endorses Kim Eui-jun's election fraud theories?"
Yoo also took aim at Cho over the latter's push to consolidate with Democratic Party of Korea candidate Kim Yong-nam, who faces allegations of ties to the consumer lending industry. "When I asked whether that consolidation was meant to boost the loan shark business, what exactly would his answer be?" Yoo said. "I'd ask him to stop exploiting these issues for political gain and instead have a real conversation about Pyeongtaek."
thanks@heraldcorp.com
