Government funded Korea Freedom Federation deletes “neutrality” and heads toward parliamentary elections

President Yoon Suk-yeol greets the crowd at a ceremony celebrating the 69th anniversary of the establishment of the Korea Freedom Federation at Jangchung Gymnasium in Jung-gu, Seoul on June 28. Courtesy of the Office of the President

Thursday, it was confirmed that the Korea Freedom Federation removed the clause stating political neutrality from its articles of association in March. Last month, when Kang Seok-ho, president of the Korea Freedom Federation, appointed right wing YouTubers to the federation’s advisory board, he said, “Isn’t there a big, something, next year? Only if the right wing can secure a large part then, will the whole run properly.” This is expected to stir controversy over the possibility of the federation’s involvement in next year’s parliamentary elections.

According to the coverage by the Kyunghyang Shinmun, the Korea Freedom Federation deleted the clause on political impartiality from its articles of association in March. In October 2018, the federation included a clause stating, “The federation maintains political neutrality when conducting its business,” after it ended up in the center of controversy for its alleged support in the parliamentary elections in April 2016 and alleged participation in demonstrations against the candlelight rallies calling for the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. In March, after Kang--a former lawmaker of the Liberty Korea Party (current People Power Party)--became president of the federation, the regulations were revised, and the mention of political neutrality disappeared. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety, which has jurisdiction over the federation, approved the change to the articles of association.

According to the official YouTube channel of the Korea Freedom Federation, in a ceremony for the appointment of new members of the advisory board on June 16, comments were made, which suggested that they had the parliamentary elections in mind. At the time, Kim Sang-jin, head of New Freedom Solidarity and a member of the advisory board, said, “If you can secure a budget to support members of the advisory board for something like transportation expenses, we will exert more effort and beat up the forces destroying the freedom and security of the Republic of Korea.” Kang Seok-ho said, “Isn’t there a big, something, next year? Only if the right wing can secure a large part then, will the whole run properly.”

According to a breakdown of the subsidies received by the Korea Freedom Federation, which the Kyunghyang Shinmun obtained from the office of Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Choi Ki-sang, the federation received 285 million won from the central government this year for the purpose of “realizing a happy and leading civic society.” According to documents on the settlement of accounts for nonprofit organizations reported to the National Tax Service in April, the federation received 4,279,610,000 won in subsidies from the central and local governments last year. The federation also received other benefits such as tax cuts and access to facilities.

Earlier on June 28, President Yoon Suk-yeol attended a ceremony celebrating the 69th anniversary of the founding of the Korea Freedom Federation at Jangchung Gymnasium and said, “The Korea Freedom Federation is at a time when it is faced with a mission and responsibilities bigger than ever before.” People Power Party lawmaker Chang Je-won, known as a “key Yoon aide,” was present at Kang Seok-ho’s inauguration ceremony on January 17. He said, “After all, am I not the chairman of the (parliamentary) Public Administration and Security Committee?” then added, “As long as I am here, I will surely guarantee the budget for the Korea Freedom Federation.”

On Thursday, when the Kyunghyang Shinmun asked Kang about his remark, he explained, “I didn’t mean that (intervention in parliamentary elections). I was suggesting that we do a lot of work this year and do our utmost to secure our budget next year.” As for removing the clause on political neutrality from the articles of association, he said, “As a national movement organization, we cannot engage in politics or election campaigns, so we thought it was meaningless.”