NEC allows banners slandering Yoon
The National Election Commission (NEC) is once again facing criticism over its biased legal interpretations ahead of the March 9 presidential election. The NEC’s judgments appear to be tilted toward the ruling Democratic Party (DP). The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) argued that the NEC is not keeping its promise to maintain political neutrality.
Recently, the NEC announced that it is allowing banners that contain phrases such as “those protecting Shincheonji,” and “we cannot allow the presidential Blue House to become the center of shamanism.” The NEC explained that such phrases do not necessarily remind people of a certain candidate.
Currently, the ruling party is trying to frame conservative candidate Yoon Seok-youl as affiliated with the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, believed by some people to be a cult, as well as shamanism. Leftists argue that Yoon, while he was Prosecutor General, refused to carry out a search into the Shincheonji Church in February 2020 over quarantine violations upon a recommendation from a shamanic adviser. Leftists also say that Yoon and his wife take advice from shamans, while Yoon and the PPP call the allegation completely untrue.
Hwang Kyu-hwan, a spokesperson from the PPP, released a statement on Friday arguing that the NEC is using double standards to interpret election law and allowing for possible election campaigning that would help the DP while banning that which would arguably favor the PPP.
“During the last general election, the NEC banned the opposition party using phrases such as ‘devastated people’s lives’ by saying that it reminds people of the current administration,” Hwang said. “During last year’s mayoral by-elections, the NEC banned us from using phrases like ‘incompetence,’ and ‘hypocrisy.’ I would like to ask whether this is the same NEC [that now is allowing phrases related to the Shincheonji and shamanism].”
During last year’s mayoral by-elections, the NEC banned civic groups and private citizens from using slogans and banners that include phrases such as “Nae-ro-nam-bul,” which roughly translates as ‘it is romance if I do it, but in your case, it is an affair,” “Incompetence,” and “Why are we even conducting this election in the first place?” The by-elections in Seoul and Busan were held because of sexual misconduct by the late Seoul mayor Park Won-soon and former Busan mayor Oh Geo-don, both of the ruling DP.
The NEC banned these phrases while claiming they would make people think of the DP, or the Moon Jae-in administration. This stirred accusations of bias toward the ruling party, as the phrases also simply described bad behavior that politicians should avoid.
Additionally, the Traffic Broadcasting System (TBS) radio channel, run by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, used the slogan ] “Let’s do 1” during the mayoral by-elections. “1” is pronounced “Il”, in Korean, which could translate as “Let’s do the work,” but at the same time it could also be interpreted as “Let’s go ahead with 1,” referring to the DP candidate, who was candidate No. 1 on the ballot. The NEC said this did not violate election law.
“The media already reported on an internal report circulated among the DP that they should frame the PPP as into Shincheonji and shamanism,” Hwang said. “However, the NEC is arguing that those phrases do not clearly remind people of a certain candidate despite the fact that they are not true and defaming our candidate, while making ordinary people misunderstand.”
Hwang added that the “NEC has been pursuing a policy of ‘one law for the ruling party and another for the opposition party.”
He also pointed out the fact that a lawmaker from the DP told the Commissioner of Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency during a public meeting that the government should do its best to manage the Covid-19 situation so that people can vote for the ruling party’s candidate. “At that time, the NEC did not even give a warning to the lawmaker for provoking the civil servant to violates her political neutrality,” Hwang said.
The Chosun Ilbo newspaper ran an editorial on Friday criticizing the NEC for its double standards. The newspaper said that the election law bans banners containing phrases that directly refer to a certain candidate, but pointed out that the ruling party has accused Yoon of affiliation with the Shincheonji Church and shamanism. “Such phrases are based on just rumors and can be prosecuted for distributing false information,” the editorial read. “Despite this fact, the NEC is saying that there is no problem with using banners with these phrases.”
The newspaper also brought up a recent incident where President Moon Jae-in’s ally Cho Hai-ju, the standing commissioner of the NEC, gave up on his plans to become general commissioner and said he would resign due to backlash from members of the commission.
“Six out of the seven commissioners of the NEC are now liberals,” the editorial read. “The NEC are doing an election campaign instead of election management.”
