With the parliamentary election just two days away, rival parties are making the final sprint toward the finish line. While it is still anybody’s guess which party will come out of election day smelling of roses, the main opposition Democratic United Party is at pains to prevent a foul-mouthed candidate it has nominated from snuffing out its chance of victory.
The candidate is Kim Yong-min, a co-host of the popular podcast “Naneun Ggomsuda (I’m a Petty-Minded Creep).” It was recently highlighted that Kim, who was nominated for Nowon-A District in northeastern Seoul, had made a string of totally outrageous comments against elderly citizens, women, Christians, and the United States when he appeared on an Internet radio show in 2004 and 2005.
His comments are so disgusting and insulting that we can hardly believe our ears. For instance, he proposed that all escalators and elevators at City Hall subway station be destroyed to prevent old people ― who are generally conservative ― from gathering around the City Hall to stage protests against the then liberal government.
This is one of the most gentle of his recently revealed remarks. He made a series of utterly nauseating and derogatory comments against women, using words that should not be spoken.
He also grossly insulted Christians and their faith by saying that “Christian churches in Korea are a kind of criminal gang that should be eradicated.” He had no qualms about poking fun at Christian expressions and practices.
Kim also shocked us by suggesting terrorist attacks in the U.S. He proposed that Yoo Yeong-cheol, a serial rapist and killer, be released to kill President Bush and his defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, and rape and kill Condoleezza Rice, who was then national security adviser.
Enraged by Kim’s opprobrious comments, organizations of elderly citizens, women and Christian churches denounced him and demanded he step down. On Saturday DUP leader Han Myeong-sook sought to contain the damage from Kim’s loose talk by apologizing to the public and advising him to drop out.
In the face of mounting criticism, Kim made a public apology. Yet he refused to resign, pledging to run the full course and face the voters’ verdict.
Many of Kim’s comments border on insanity. A man in his right mind cannot harbor such crazy ideas. Now, it may be too late for the DUP to cancel his candidacy. The party should have taken action against him earlier. Now the only way left to prevent him from becoming a lawmaker is to vote him down.
