"Dreaming of Pyongyang Naengmyeon and Regime Resignation Movement"... Ruling Party Fully Focused on Union Crackdown

As President Yoon Suk-yeol sends a tough message toward labor unions, the leadership of the People Power Party (PPP) has also gone all-in on 'attacking unions' through public statements and social media. Jang Ye-chan, the party’s youngest supreme council member, engaged in a heated debate with a radio program host over the issue of 'dismantling unions,' while the PPP’s SNS account uploaded a card news titled "A Day in the Life of a Pro-North Korean Union," declaring, "We will root out pro-North Korean spy groups."

The card news titled "A Day in the Life of a Pro-North Korean Union," posted on the PPP’s SNS on the 14th, includes a timetable showing activities such as dreaming of "going to Pyongyang to eat cold noodles" at night, and during the day ▲writing pledges of loyalty to North Korea ▲opposing the South Korea-U.S. alliance ▲campaigning for regime change ▲calling for the withdrawal of U.S. Forces Korea ▲claiming political repression during investigations ▲invoking colorism rhetoric ▲and conveying slogans and banner phrases from some civic groups’ protests.

This refers to recent circumstances where the National Intelligence Service and the National Police Agency detected that North Korea issued specific protest slogan orders such as "Retirement is Memorial" to the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). The PPP account stated, "the card news below is a parody of the Democratic Party’s card news," but it seems closely related to the recent leadership’s earlier efforts to attack unions. Jin Joong-kwon, a special professor at Kwangwoon University, criticized, "It’s so childish that it’s unbearable. Do they have single-digit IQs?"

Kim Ki-hyun, the PPP leader, also shared on SNS, "During the raids on offices, homes, and vehicles of KCTU officials suspected of violating the National Security Act from January to February, the National Intelligence Service and police reportedly secured a large number of directive documents sent from North Korea," and raised his voice, saying, "We declare war against pro-North Korean spy groups by mobilizing all our party’s resources."

Joo Ho-young, the floor leader, also remarked in the floor countermeasure meeting, "It is astonishing that domestic forces still openly follow North Korea’s orders," and pointedly said, "I hope the Democratic Party becomes aware of this fact."

PPP lawmaker Kwon Seong-dong criticized on SNS, "(The KCTU) has transformed a labor union created to protect workers’ rights into a subordinate organization for political struggle and has become a host for pro-North Korean forces," adding, "They say they are independent with their words, but are pro-North Korean in their actions."

Jang Ye-chan, the youngest supreme council member, also engaged in a debate with a radio host over his statement on 'dismantling unions.' Jang appeared on MBC’s "Shin Jang-sik’s News High Kick" and said, "One of my pledges is to dismantle the KCTU," which led to a debate when host and lawyer Shin Jang-sik responded, "It’s fine to criticize, but legally, unions cannot be dismantled."

Jang replied, "If you don’t understand political terminology, wouldn’t it be difficult to host a current affairs program? If you want to argue whether my political terms can be legally or politically interpreted, you should be the opposing panelist," to which Shin countered, "There is a qualitative difference between punishing union leaders if they break the law and dismantling a union. Use precise terminology."

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