Future United Party Sparks Another 'Controversy'... Joo Dong-sik Calls President Moon "South Korean Governor Receiving Orders from Xi Jinping," "Gwangju is a City Clinging to Ancestral Rites"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] Amid the ruling party leadership's apologies over a series of 'inappropriate remarks' by United Future Party candidates, controversy has arisen as Joo Dong-sik, the United Future Party candidate running in Gwangju Seo-gu Gap, said, "Gwangju is a city obsessed with ancestral rites." He also criticized President Moon Jae-in as "the governor of South Korea taking orders from Xi Jinping." Joo previously stated, "Let's create and sink a Sewol ferry every month to generate jobs," so the controversy is unlikely to subside easily.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 8th, during a candidate speech at the 4.15 general election candidate invitation debate, Joo said, "Gwangju is a city trapped in the legacy of the 1980s, a city obsessed with ancestral rites instead of production, a city where the monument of past tragedies has fallen into an obstacle for young people's employment and childbirth." Regarding President Moon, he said, "One cannot help but question whether he is the president of the Republic of Korea or the governor of South Korea taking orders from Xi Jinping," and added, "The Moon Jae-in administration and left-wing forces succeeded in gaining power by exploiting Gwangju's democratization legacy."

He continued, "The Moon administration's governance is desperate. Did Gwangju shed so much blood to become the henchman of Kim Jong-un and Xi Jinping?" and also added, "Should Honam go along with Moon Jae-in's left-wing forces, standing as guarantors for a doomed regime's debts and thereby bankrupting Honam's democratization legacy?"

As these remarks sparked controversy, Joo's past statements also came under scrutiny. In August 2018, he posted on Facebook, "Let's create and sink one Sewol ferry every month from now on." He said, "Let's make 1,000 Sewol ferries and sink them. The Truth Investigation Committee and other quality jobs can be created as much as we want." On the 9th, Joo clarified, "I was not suggesting putting people on the Sewol ferry."

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