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🇰🇷 South Korea /Elections & Politics

Opposition Slams Ruling Party Candidate Ha Jung-woo Over 'Hand-Wiping' Controversy

From Hankyoreh · (5m ago) Korean Critical tone

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • Opposition parties heavily criticized a ruling party candidate, Ha Jung-woo, for appearing to wipe his hands after shaking hands with voters.
  • Critics called the gesture arrogant and disrespectful, suggesting it implied he viewed voters as inferior.
  • Ha Jung-woo apologized, explaining his hand was numb from shaking many hands and the gesture was unconscious, attributing the criticism to negative campaigning.

The political landscape in Busan is heating up with a controversial incident involving Ha Jung-woo, a candidate for the June 3 by-election in the Buk-gu constituency. The opposition, particularly the People Power Party, has seized upon a video clip showing Ha Jung-woo appearing to wipe his hands after shaking hands with constituents. This gesture has been framed as a sign of deep-seated arrogance and a dismissal of the very people he seeks to represent.

It's as if the deep-rooted sense of superiority and arrogance, treating the residents who have built up the region throughout their lives as a 'different class,' unconsciously burst forth.

— Park Min-sikA People Power Party candidate criticizing Ha Jung-woo's hand-wiping gesture.

Park Min-sik, a preliminary candidate for the People Power Party, launched a scathing attack, stating the gesture revealed Ha's "deep-rooted sense of superiority and arrogance, treating the residents who have built up the region throughout their lives as a 'different class.'" Similarly, Kim Jae-won, a supreme council member of the People Power Party, decried the act as treating voters "like insects." The controversy has been amplified by figures like Han Dong-hoon, a former leader of the People Power Party, who shared a video suggesting the Democratic Party believes Ha's actions won't affect the election outcome.

It's like wiping your hands as if something dirty was on them. Ha, a former senior secretary, is someone who treats voters like insects.

— Kim Jae-wonA People Power Party official condemning Ha Jung-woo's actions.

In response, Ha Jung-woo has apologized for any misunderstanding, attributing the gesture to his hand being numb from shaking hundreds of hands and acting unconsciously. He lamented that the criticism felt like "negative campaigning." Despite the controversy, the Democratic Party has officially nominated Ha for the Buk-gu by-election, signaling their continued support. This incident highlights the intense scrutiny and the high stakes involved in the upcoming by-elections, where every gesture and word is being dissected.

I've shaken hands with hundreds, maybe up to a thousand people a day for the first time. My hand was numb towards the end, so I think I made an unconscious hand movement.

— Ha Jung-wooHa Jung-woo's explanation for his hand-wiping gesture.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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