Ha Tae-kyung: "Kim Young-chun Seems Really Desperate for the Election... Is He Accusing Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun of Pro-Japanese Collaboration?"

Kim Young-chun "Korea-Japan Undersea Tunnel Seems Like a Promise Thrown Without Considering Busan"
Ha Tae-kyung "Spitting on One's Own Face"

Ha Tae-kyung, member of the People Power Party. [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] On the 3rd, Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the People Power Party, sharply criticized Kim Young-choon, the Democratic Party's preliminary candidate for Busan mayor, saying, "It seems quite urgent. In the eagerness to win the election, he even belittles the roots of his own party (the Democratic Party)."

In a post on his Facebook on the same day, Rep. Ha said to candidate Kim, "Former Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun spoke about the necessity of the Korea-Japan undersea tunnel without proper calculation. Even Oh Keo-don, the former Busan mayor from the Democratic Party who resigned due to sexual harassment, did not carefully consider the necessity of the Korea-Japan undersea tunnel from Busan's perspective," expressing this view.

Earlier, candidate Kim appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and criticized, "The Korea-Japan undersea tunnel seems like a promise carelessly thrown out by the People Power Party without considering the position of the city of Busan."

When the host pointed out, "In 1999, President Kim Dae-jung; in 2003, President Roh Moo-hyun; and in 2016, Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don also spoke about the necessity of the Korea-Japan undersea tunnel," Kim responded, "I don't think they thoroughly examined it from Busan's perspective. It feels like they did not accurately calculate the balance sheet."

In response, Rep. Ha questioned, "If the Democratic Party's Busan mayor did not speak about the necessity from Busan's standpoint, does that mean he spoke from Japan's standpoint? Are you saying that DJ (Kim Dae-jung) and Roh Moo-hyun supported the Korea-Japan tunnel not for South Korea's national interest but for Japan's?"

He continued, "No matter how urgent the election is, how can you belittle even the spiritual leaders of your party, former Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun, and accuse them of being pro-Japanese?" and criticized, "In the end, it's spitting on your own face."

Rep. Ha also pointed out, "The logic of candidate Kim and the Democratic Party is no different from the opposition arguments of the student activists during President Kim Dae-jung's opening of Japanese popular culture," explaining, "At that time, there was fierce criticism that opening popular culture would only benefit Japan and turn Korea into a cultural colony. However, President Kim Dae-jung opened Japanese popular culture with foresight and bold decision-making, which was the beginning of the current Korean Wave (Hallyu)."

He added, "We should learn from the fact that as a result of opening Korean-Japanese popular culture, it was not Japanese culture but the Korean Wave that actually overwhelmed Japan," and said, "This election seems to be a battle between forces that can fully overcome Japan and forces obsessed with the compulsion that they always lose to Japan."

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