Cho Kuk Steps Up Criticism of President and Government, Angering Democratic Party

Cho Kuk’s warning that an effort to withdraw charges in a case involving President Lee Jae-myung could end in political and legal trouble has triggered an angry response inside the Democratic Party. The dispute is sharpening tensions between the Democratic Party and the Innovation Party as they discuss closer cooperation.

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It cannot be called the language of a comrade. I have no choice but to call it ingratitude.

Cho wrote on Facebook that laws risk failing if they appear designed for one particular person. He also said charges should be withdrawn on grounds of fabricated prosecution only after such fabricated prosecution has been confirmed. Democratic Party spokesman Cho Kye-won called the remarks partisan attacks that did not help cooperation between the two parties.

Pro-Lee lawmakers responded even more sharply. Supreme Council member Park Sun-won said Cho’s comments could not be called “the language of a comrade” and described them as “ingratitude.” Lawmaker Lee Keon-tae argued that the proposed special counsel bill would have attracted little attention without Lee Jae-myung, whom he called the main victim and symbol of fabricated prosecution.

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Cho Kuk’s remarks about withdrawing charges point out problems in the current Democratic Party-led bill and propose that we improve it together.

Innovation Party spokesman Lim Myeong-hee said Cho was identifying problems in the Democratic Party-led bill and proposing that the parties address them together. Cho’s criticism came shortly after Innovation Party lawmaker Lee Hae-min was appointed senior presidential secretary for AI and future planning, an appointment Cho described as a signal of his party’s willingness to cooperate.

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The Democratic Party and government protected the interests of the top 1%.

Cho continued his criticism by attacking the government’s tax reform plan, saying it protected the interests of the top 1% and abandoned taxation principles. Some observers interpreted his remarks as an effort to increase his influence in negotiations over cooperation. At a lecture in Sinan, Cho said the Innovation Party had signaled its willingness to cooperate, but the Democratic Party had not taken corresponding action. He said a merger required trust, and that trust had not yet formed. Cho later said he was acting as a red team so the Lee Jae-myung government could succeed and urged critics to focus on establishing the facts about alleged fabricated prosecution.

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The Lee Jae-myung government will not succeed simply by singing uncritical praise. It needs someone like me to play the role of a red team.