Busan's Park Min-sik and Han Dong-hoon Target Ha Jung-woo: "North Korea Is the Main Enemy"

Park Min-sik: "Ha Jung-woo's View on National Security Is Broken"

Han Dong-hoon: "Avoiding the Main Enemy Question"

Joint Attack over Ha's Evasion on 'Is North Korea the Main Enemy?'

Park Min-sik, the People Power Party candidate, and Han Dong-hoon, the Independent candidate running in the Busan Buk-gap parliamentary by-election, jointly criticized Democratic Party candidate Ha Jung-woo, claiming that he avoided answering the question, "Who is the main enemy of the Republic of Korea?"

On May 23, Park wrote on Facebook, "For anyone who has ever remembered the tears shed over the Cheonan warship and Yeonpyeong Island, or who thinks of our young soldiers sweating and bleeding day and night at the Demilitarized Zone, the question 'Who is the main enemy of the Republic of Korea?' is so obvious that there should not be a moment's hesitation. Yet candidate Ha Jung-woo avoided giving a clear answer and ran away," he criticized.

He went on to say, "Candidate Ha's understanding of national security is completely broken. How can someone who wants to become a member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea remain silent about 'North Korea,' a nuclear-armed group that continuously threatens our lives and safety, while still claiming to represent the future of Buk-gu and aspire to become a member of the National Assembly?"

He continued, "A totalitarian politician who divides the people into enemies and allies based on personal preference, and accuses the people of being the main enemy, is not qualified to be a leader of the Republic of Korea nor to represent the residents of Buk-gu. Candidate Ha should not try to dodge the issue with evasive language, but should state clearly in front of the people of Buk-gu: Is North Korea the main enemy, or are the people of the Republic of Korea the main enemy?" he urged.

Democratic Party of Korea's Ha Jung-woo (from the left), People Power Party's Park Min-sik, and Independent candidate Han Dong-hoon for Busan Bukgap district campaigning. Photo by Yonhap News Agency.

The previous day, Kim Jong-hyuk, former Supreme Council member of the People Power Party and a supporter of Han Dong-hoon, shared a video of candidate Ha during his campaign. In the video, when asked, "Candidate, is North Korea the main enemy of the Republic of Korea?" Ha responded, "I'm currently campaigning," and "I'm sorry."

Han also wrote on Facebook, "Democratic Party politicians claim that North Korea is not the main enemy because they can't have a conversation if they call North Korea the main enemy. Does Democratic Party candidate Ha Jung-woo feel the same way? Avoiding a question that any South Korean public official should answer directly—does candidate Ha have no opinion of his own?" he pointed out.

He added, "In principle, you negotiate and have dialogue with your 'enemy.' North Korea, with its overwhelming military power and national strength, is clearly our main enemy, but we must also engage in dialogue and negotiation with them," he emphasized.

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