Justice Party: "'Sewol Ferry Insult' Cha Myung-jin, Truly Subhuman"

Cha Myung-jin, Bucheon-si Byeong Division Committee Chairman of the Liberty Korea Party / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] The Justice Party strongly criticized Cha Myung-jin, the Future United Party candidate for Bucheon B, Gyeonggi Province, who once again sparked controversy with his offensive remarks about the Sewol Ferry disaster, saying, "He can only be described as less than human."

Kim Jong-chul, spokesperson for the Justice Party's election committee, issued a statement on the 8th, saying, "As the saying goes, 'Old habits die hard.' Without any reflection on his past misdeeds, he tried to manipulate public opinion by dragging the Sewol Ferry victims' families into the election battlefield."

Kim added, "Candidate Cha is a representative low-quality politician who has persistently insulted the Sewol Ferry victims' families to make his name known. Especially since the day after the election marks the 6th anniversary of the Sewol Ferry tragedy, his remarks were a strategically intended offensive to revive negative sentiments about the disaster and rally far-right forces."

Regarding the Future United Party's plan to expel candidate Cha, Kim criticized, "From the moment they handed him the nomination certificate, the party effectively gave him a free pass for the numerous insults he has made against the Sewol Ferry victims' families, so the expulsion is nothing more than scapegoating."

He said, "The ultimate responsibility for nominating such a person with offensive remarks lies with party leader Hwang Kyo-ahn. Reorganizing the party into a pro-Hwang system and placing such offensive figures in various constituencies cannot be ignored. He must take serious responsibility for the continuous offensive incidents."

Earlier, on the 7th, at a debate hosted by OBS, candidate Cha referred to a media report and said, "I already know about an article claiming that Sewol Ferry volunteers and victims' families engaged in indescribably immoral acts inside a tent." This was said in response to Democratic Party candidate Kim Sang-hee pointing out Cha's previous offensive remarks related to the Sewol Ferry.

He further questioned, "Are you aware that there were inappropriate acts inside the Sewol Ferry tent, which was sanctified and built with public donations out of national sympathy? Despite this, instead of showing remorse, people are blaming President Park Geun-hye and leader Hwang Kyo-ahn as if they were the main culprits of the Sewol Ferry disaster. I sharply rebuked those who exploited this to seize power, so why do they keep calling it offensive remarks?" This only fueled the controversy.

In April last year, candidate Cha sparked controversy by posting on his Facebook that the Sewol Ferry victims' families "really exploit the public's sympathy for their children's deaths shamelessly." At that time, the Liberty Korea Party (now Future United Party) suspended Cha's party membership for three months as a disciplinary measure.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.