단상斷想

The Rebuilding Korea Party is facing a fundamental organizational crisis due to a single incident of sexual misconduct. On the 9th, the Rebuilding Korea Party decided to recommend Jo Kuk, the head of the Institute for Innovation Policy, as the chairman of the emergency response committee to manage the internal strife caused by this incident. Accordingly, there is a growing possibility that Director Jo will be "early on the scene" with the mission of overcoming the party's crisis, about a month after the special pardon on Liberation Day last month.

However, internal strife continues, with Eun Woo-geun, the standing advisor who served as the chairman of the Rebuilding Korea Party's founding preparation committee, criticizing the party's "sexual misconduct case" and leaving the party on the 10th. There are many skeptical views as to whether Director Jo will be able to properly manage the crisis even if he makes an early appearance.

In political circles, the prevailing view is that public opinion has already turned its back on the Rebuilding Korea Party and Chairman Cho Kuk's lukewarm and irresponsible attitude towards this sexual misconduct scandal. Amidst all sorts of noise, as Chairman Cho Kuk was pardoned and reinstated, the Rebuilding Korea Party was full of expectations, hoping for a second general election whirlwind in next year's local elections, but now they have reached a point where they have to worry about the party's very existence.

In particular, what makes this situation even more serious is that it is not due to external blows, but rather the corruption and irrationality within the Rebuilding Korea Party's organization that has festered and burst. The fact that a key party official, known as 'Cho Kuk's right-hand man,' is the perpetrator of sexual violence has inevitably led to collective embarrassment regarding gender sensitivity. Efforts for internal purification or active protection and consideration for the victims were buried in the cowardly silence within, saying, 'Dare to touch Cho Kuk.'

In the end, it was only after the victim declared leaving the party that the situation became public, and the Rebuilding Korea Innovation Party missed the opportunity to resolve it themselves. Cho Kuk was busy with his own politics after being pardoned and reinstated, thinking, "The party will take care of it," and the party, in its own way, protected Cho Kuk and ignored resolving the situation by suppressing the victim. This is an irresponsible and incompetent response that makes one doubt whether the Rebuilding Korea Innovation Party is a public party.

In particular, after the sexual assault case spread into a secondary victimization controversy, Cho Kuk's brazen excuse ("I was not a party member at the time, so there was no role I could play") poured fuel on the negative public opinion. The public was greatly disappointed by Cho Kuk's attitude of trying to draw a line coldly on events that were unfavorable to him, even though Director Cho Kuk used his name as the party name, identifying the party with himself. This was a decisive scene in which the people saw again 'Cho Kuk's hypocrisy after tasting power.'

In fact, the Rebuilding Korea Party would not have been able to present its credentials in Yeouido if it hadn't been for 'Yoon Seok-yeol' in the last general election. The party, hastily created by Director Cho Kuk, established itself as an unprecedented lottery party, winning 12 proportional representation seats. Most of the Rebuilding Korea Party's lawmakers, who are political novices, have increased their value by appearing on various broadcasts and YouTube channels.

However, badges obtained easily are easily lost. The Rebuilding Korea Party lawmakers, intoxicated with the power of the gold badge, left the socially vulnerable, whom they should have been most attentive to and cared for, defenseless in the field. How many people remember the Rebuilding Korea Party's policies from the general election?

The Rebuilding Korea Party, which seized 12 seats with "Yoon Suk-yeol Killing" and hatred of the political prosecution, was intoxicated with languid power after the general election and failed to show any signs of innovation or reform. Social reform legislation, which had been emphasized since the founding of the party with the slogan of "advanced social rights country," has made no progress even after more than a year since its inauguration.

Cho Kuk's return was made in a state where there was only talk and little practical policy development or 추진 effort. The lawmakers and party members also settled for vague expectations and sweet power, thinking, 'We'll have another jackpot in next year's local elections with Cho Kuk's smile and hair sweeping.' And the culmination of enjoying that vested interest was the incompetent handling of the sexual misconduct.

However, even so, it is hard to understand that a public party with 12 seats is showing such a disorganized appearance regarding the sexual misconduct situation. There are several limitations that the Rebuilding Korea Party has.

First, the Rebuilding Korea Party is close to a one-man party created by Cho Kuk. Looking at the history of political parties, there is absolutely no case where a one-man party has lasted long or survived. The United People's Party, founded by Chung Ju-yung in 1992, was a party hastily created by a businessman who took politics lightly to challenge for the presidency. The People's Party relied on Chung Ju-yung's personal leadership and rapidly collapsed after the election defeat.

In 1997, Lee In-je created the People's New Party to run for president independently after failing to win the New Korea Party primary, but it disappeared without a trace after losing the election. The Creative Korea Party, created in 2007 by venture capitalist Moon Kook-hyun, also advocated "clean politics" and "job creation," but it eventually lost its presence in the National Assembly and disappeared due to a complete lack of parliamentary base and organizational power. Like this, parties that are completely dependent on one "chairman" have disappeared into history without showing any performance beyond a "pop-up store."

The second is the disappearance of the goal. Even the Rebuilding Korea Party, which had not shown any significant political direction other than "criticizing Yoon Suk-yeol" after the general election, is highly likely to rapidly disappear starting with next year's local elections, clearly exposing the limitations of Cho Kuk's image politics.

In the last general election, they received public support through 'anti-Yoon Suk-yeol' and the prosecution's political struggle, but since then, the Rebuilding Korea Party has failed to make the transition to a policy-oriented party through innovation, which is the most important point as a political party. Because they tried to remain a party that was still satisfied with Cho Kuk's one-man show rather than playing the role of a policy party, they neglected the situation under the pretext that the 'leader' was in prison when a sex scandal broke out.

The resolution of Yoon Seok-yeol's insurrection charges and impeachment is currently progressing smoothly through three special prosecutors. There is little role for the Rebuilding Korea Party to play in this process. They boldly started the fire, but the cleanup afterwards is already being carried out smoothly by the Democratic Party of Korea and the special prosecutors.

However, the Rebuilding Korea Party is still hoping for next year's local elections with the outdated 'handsome Cho Kuk frame,' and is now in danger of collapsing with one blow from a sexual misconduct scandal. Cho Kuk's statement that "Since I have finished my role as an icebreaker to destroy the Yoon Seok-yeol regime, I will become a hammer ship to break the People Power Party" clearly shows how intoxicated the Rebuilding Korea Party is with the success of its 12 seats, and how they are blowing outdated trumpets among themselves.

Third, the Rebuilding Korea Party is overlooking the fact that perceptions of the leader are also changing. The Rebuilding Korea Party is trying to urgently put Cho Kuk on the emergency committee chairmanship, despite opposition from the victim's side, while creating an emergency committee system. They are trying to rely on Cho Kuk's one-top play once again.

However, this situation is an event that puts the Rebuilding Korea Party's self-purification ability and crisis response ability as a public party to the test. If Cho Kuk resolves the situation wisely through the public party's system rather than directly stepping in, Cho Kuk's presence will be further highlighted. If, by any chance, Cho Kuk fails to handle this situation smoothly, he will inevitably be completely branded as an incompetent leader.

The decisive background to how President Lee Jae-myung seized the presidency despite judicial risks and fierce obstruction from Yoon Seok-yeol was thanks to his basic administrative skills, policy understanding, and organizational management skills accumulated through his time as Mayor of Seongnam and Governor of Gyeonggi Province. However, Cho Kuk has not shown any such administrative or policy performance so far.

The qualities required of a politician today are not handsome looks or eloquent speech. The times demand a 'practical leader' with ability and policy. However, Cho Kuk does not meet this new spirit of the times. The times now demand a 'practical leader' with ability and policy, rather than a handsome and eloquent politician.

Is Cho Kuk truly a figure who aligns with such a changed zeitgeist? No, he is not. The sexual misconduct scandal that shook the Rebuilding Korea Party is just one stark example showing that Cho Kuk has failed to transform himself from an image politician into a capable leader.

When questioned about the party's sexual misconduct scandal, Cho Kuk, as before, arrogantly maintained his silence with a 'heart-fluttering performance' of leisurely sweeping his hair back. It is time for him to stop the Prince Charming performance. The flower carriage that will carry Cho Kuk will no longer come.