Political Showdown: Cho Kuk vs. Song Young-gil – Who Represents True Democratic Values?

Translation result

Cho Kuk, the Innovation Party candidate in the Pyeongtaek parliamentary by‑election, criticized Song Young‑gil, the Democratic Party candidate for Incheon Yeonsu‑gu A, for defending Kim Yong‑nam in Pyeongtaek, saying, “I think those remarks really crossed the line.”

According to political sources in December, Cho told CPBC radio’s “Kim Jun‑il’s Current Affairs Heaven” the day before that Song, while offering encouragement to Kim Yong‑nam, likened him to Admiral Yi Sun‑sin, who “fought the Japanese invaders despite slander from Won Gyun.” Cho asked, “Who is Won Gyun, and who are the invaders?”

Cho rejected accusations that he was engaging in negative campaigning against Kim, calling his own criticism a legitimate raising of issues. He countered, “Isn’t calling someone a ‘Won Gyun’ the real negative attack?”

Earlier, Song had posted on social media in support of Kim, writing, “Whenever I struggle, I think of King Seonjo and the slanders from Won Gyun, and of Admiral Yi Sun‑sin, who fought the Japanese invaders amid jealousy and envy.”

Addressing Kim’s claim that “we are more like the Democratic Party,” Cho said Kim repeatedly distinguishes between “the old, incompetent and hypocritical Democratic Party” and “the new Democratic Party after I arrived.” Cho said that when he speaks of what it means to be Democratic, he refers to the democratic‑reform tradition carried forward from Kim Dae‑jung and Roh Moo‑hyun through Moon Jae‑in and Lee Jae‑myung.

He added that characterizing the earlier Democratic Party as incompetent and hypocritical risks breaking the long continuity of the Democratic and broader progressive camp.