Woo Sang-ho "Lee Jae-myung's Unipolar System?... Because Competitors Are Weak"

by Yun Seulgi

Published 20 Aug.2024 09:26(KST)

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Amid criticism surrounding the newly established leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea as an "Lee Jae-myung one-polar system," former Democratic Party lawmaker Woo Sang-ho dismissed it as "a problem arising because there is no competitor to challenge Lee Jae-myung."

On the 20th, Woo appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and said, "The term 'one-polar system' means that Lee Jae-myung's presence and control have grown stronger," adding, "But Lee Jae-myung cannot be expected to nurture competitors. Asking him why he hasn't developed competitors and blaming him for the one-polar system is misguided. The weakness of competitors should not be attributed to Lee Jae-myung."

At the 37th anniversary memorial service for martyr Lee Han-yeol, Woo Sang-ho, chairman of the Lee Han-yeol Memorial Foundation, is delivering a greeting. Photo by Yonhap News

Woo stated, "However, to address the perception that the party belongs exclusively to a particular faction, when appointing supreme council members and nominated supreme council members, there should be a selection of representatives from various regions and social classes, not just those who are too pro-Lee or hardcore Lee supporters," emphasizing, "It is necessary to show Lee Jae-myung's approach to complementing integrative pluralism and diversity. This is a very important task."

Regarding President Yoon Suk-yeol's remarks about 'anti-state forces operating covertly,' Woo said, "The claim that such forces are operating everywhere in our society is something I heard most often from President Chun Doo-hwan during my student activism days," adding, "I don't know who advised him to use such expressions, but it reflects a very flawed mindset. It is also a cause for not properly listening to the opinions of those who oppose him during state governance."

He continued, "The perception that anti-government forces are anti-state forces is totalitarian thinking, not democratic thinking," and said, "If one holds the notion that 'I am the state, so those who oppose me are anti-state forces' and believes they must be eradicated, that is a very dangerous totalitarian mindset. Such expressions are often used toward the end of regimes and usually lead to their downfall. It is worrisome."