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| Hwang Kyo-ahn, chairman of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, is doused with water on his way to Songjeong railway station while facing fierce opposition from the public in Gwangju, Friday. Yonhap |
By Lee Min-hyung
Main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) leader Hwang Kyo-ahn began a tour of cities nationwide to rally support for his fight against what he claims to be President Moon Jae-in's "dictatorship," with a visit to Gwangju, Friday, only to get humiliated by angry citizens there.
He had to leave early after a scaled-down rally at Songjeong Station in the southwestern city due to noisy protesters. At one point, he was doused with water thrown by them.
He may have chosen the wrong place at the wrong time for the start of his nationwide campaign against Moon. However, some ruling party officials claim that the clash with protesters could have been intended to use regionalism in order to unify conservative forces, given the notoriously ill sentiment toward the LKP among Gwangju residents.
"The incumbent administration is trying to take control of state management and the National Assembly in a dogmatic manner," Hwang said in a speech there.
But civilians shouted out loud in protest against his speech and prevented him from leaving the spot for about 20 minutes after he finished.
At one point, civilians clashed with Hwang and party members. Hwang was supposed to hold a rally for an hour from 10:30 a.m., but finished the schedule in only about 20 minutes amid the stronger-than-expected protest from the public.
The protesters in Gwangju held signs that read "The LKP should be disbanded," while blocking Hwang's every step.
He was able to make his way back to the station with the aid of the police. To protect him from the water bottles, police opened an umbrella for him.
The LKP kicked off the two-day-long outdoor rally on Thursday by visiting major cities across the nation. On Thursday, he staged protests in four cities, Daejeon, Daegu and Busan.
On the second day of the protest, he visited Gwangju and Jeonju on his way back to Seoul.
The opposition party held the nationwide rally in a show of strong opposition to the agreement of the four parties, including the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), last week to fast-track four reform bills. The bills include electoral reform and the establishment of a special unit handling the investigation of high-ranking government officials suspected of corruption.
Rep. Song Gab-seok of the DPK denounced Hwang and the LKP for continuing to stage such an "unjustifiable" rally.
"Hwang continues to hold the outdoor rallies, neglecting the government's plan to introduce a supplementary budget to come up with countermeasures for fine dusts and restoration of recent forest fire in Gangwon Province," Song said.
Normalizing the operation of the Assembly is the general public's sentiment, so the LKP should stop such activities outside of the Assembly, the lawmaker said.
Negative public sentiment
The negative public sentiment against the LKP is showing no signs of abating.
As of Friday, more than 1.7 million people have signed an online petition calling for the disbandment of the LKP.
It took only 11 days for the record-setting number of people to sign the petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website, with the number still on the rise.
Meanwhile, almost 300,000 people also demanded the disbandment of the DPK in another petition posted on Apr. 29. Cheong Wa Dae must release an official statement over any petitions if more than 200,000 people vote in favor of the online request within 30 days.
