South Korean Lawmakers Use Online Platforms to Bolster Party Leader's Controversial Stance

Three lawmakers from South Korea's ruling People Power Party are actively building an online presence to support party leader Jang Dong-hyuk and his increasingly right-wing stance, which includes controversial claims about election fraud. Rep. Joo Jin-woo, Rep. Kim Tae-gyu, and proportional representative Kim Min-jeon are using platforms like YouTube and Threads to rally supporters and amplify their political messages.

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The Democratic Party should just go to North Korea.

Rep. Joo Jin-woo stands out with the largest following among current party lawmakers on YouTube, boasting 445,000 subscribers. He also commands a significant presence on Threads with 97,000 followers, four times that of Jang Dong-hyuk. Joo frequently engages his audience with fiery rhetoric, including statements like "The Democratic Party should just go to North Korea" and "Raise your hand if you want to go back in time to before Lee Jae-myung went to jail."

Rep. Kim Tae-gyu, who won a by-election in Ulsan Nam-gap, has garnered around 300,000 views on YouTube Shorts featuring his speeches from parliamentary committee meetings. He was seen with Jang Dong-hyuk at the Olympic Park in Seoul after a special counsel bill passed last month, thanking citizens for its creation. Last December, Kim defended then-President Yoon Suk-yeol's actions, stating, "Martial law is a presidential act of governance and an inherent authority."

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Raise your hand if you want to go back in time to before Lee Jae-myung went to jail.

Kim Min-jeon, a proportional representative, also actively supports Jang Dong-hyuk on Threads, where she has 57,000 followers, in addition to her 62,600 YouTube subscribers. After attending an outdoor rally with Jang in Daegu last month, she posted about it on Threads to defend him. Earlier, in January, she faced criticism for organizing a press conference that resembled the tactics of the now-disbanded 'Baekgoldan' riot police unit.

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Martial law is a presidential act of governance and an inherent authority.

A senior party official expressed concern about the lawmakers' actions, stating on August 23rd, "It is not desirable for lawmakers who should be pursuing unity to instead take the lead in escalating conflict."

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It is not desirable for lawmakers who should be pursuing unity to instead take the lead in escalating conflict.