No more nominations of degraded candidates

The Democratic Party must drop those substandard candidates before it’s too late.

“Lies and Deception” could fit the title of the episodes related to some Democratic Party (DP) candidates running for next week’s parliamentary elections. Yang Moon-seok, bidding for a constituency in Ansan, Gyeonggi, could face criminal charges as he allegedly lied about his college-student daughter being a self-employed businessperson to take out a business loan of 1.1 billion won ($815,000) for purchasing the family’s apartment in an affluent neighborhood in southern Seoul.

Yang handed in merchandise invoices in 2021 as evidence for his daughter’s business. But an inspection team of the lender found that the invoices included defunct companies and unregistered business names. Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Lee Bok-hyun claimed Yang has committed a crime if he really took out a business loan to purchase a home.

Kim Jun-hyeok, a DP candidate running in a constituency in Suwon, also causes uproar for his past distasteful remarks. On a YouTube channel, Kim implied that former general-turned-president Park Chung Hee could have exploited young girls who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese imperial army during wartime. He also accused Kim Hwal-lan, the first president of Ewha Women’s University, of playing a big role in sending wartime comfort women to Japan and even forced students to provide sexual favors to the U.S. military government after liberalization, sparking a strong protest from the prestigious university. The candidate apologized for his past remarks, but an apology can hardly make amends.

Gong Young-woon bidding for a constituency in Hwaseong turns out to have used his sleight of hand to amass riches for his daughter as well as his son. His daughter and her husband bought an apartment in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, for 2.2 billion won with a 1.1 billion won bank loan in October last year. Two months after her daughter bought the property, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced a development plan to build a multi-recreational complex, including a 60-story building, on nearby land that used to house a Sampyo Remicon factory, partially owned by Hyundai Motor where Gong served as a vice president. The land Gong gifted to his son in 2017 was also under such suspicion, as its property value soared after Sampyo announced to move the factory. When he was accused of nepotism to amass wealth for his offspring, he casually retorted, “Don’t young people all make real estate investments?” to fuel more anger from young voters.

Illicit borrowing, vulgar speech and favoritism squarely clash with the slogan of fairness the DP stands for. Their follies will fall on DP leader Lee Jae-myung who fielded them as candidates. The party must drop those substandard candidates before it’s too late.