Kwon Seong-dong "Political Sphere Should Reflect on the Culture of Pretending to Be Common People"

Amid criticism that Kim Nam-guk, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea at the center of the '6 billion won coin' controversy, was pretending to be a commoner, Kwon Seong-dong, a member of the People Power Party, raised his voice, saying, "This should be an opportunity for the political world that enjoys playing the commoner and the media that favorably packages it to reflect."

On the 9th, Kwon said through his social media (SNS), "People who truly have no choice but to survive on instant noodles do not boast about eating instant noodles. People who truly have no choice but to wear shoes with holes do not say they are living austerely."

He was pointing out Kim’s past appearances on a YouTube channel where he said, "I have been eating only instant noodles for 7 to 8 years," and on a broadcast program where he showed 'shoes with holes.'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kwon criticized the opposition party, saying, "Even at this moment, many citizens are living difficult lives. Is it right to arbitrarily cut out a piece of such a life and use it as an accessory to a politician’s image?" He added, "Especially the Democratic Party has criticized the rich while inciting wealth conflicts. Now, they are even taking away poverty from the common people and exhausting it as material for image abuse."

He referred to Professor Shin Young-bok’s saying, "Helping is not holding an umbrella for someone but getting wet together," and pointed out, "Helping is not about getting wet together or wearing shoes with holes together. The fundamental responsibility of politics is to first help those getting wet to avoid the rain and open opportunities to buy an umbrella."

He continued, "All members of the National Assembly are better off than ordinary citizens. So, stop pretending to be commoners for a few pennies and start thinking about improving the lives of the people as politicians. Let’s do politics, not acting."

Earlier, Kwon also announced the proposal of the so-called 'Namguk Act' through another SNS post. He said, "There is a need for the ‘Public Officials Virtual Asset Concealment Prevention Act,’ which partially amends the Public Officials Ethics Act and the Public Official Election Act. It includes virtual assets worth more than 5 million won in the property registration and disclosure targets for public officials and candidates and regulates the reporting of virtual asset transaction details." He added, "The ‘Public Officials Virtual Asset Concealment Prevention Act’ I am preparing applies stricter standards than the Democratic Party’s bill."

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