Stop rallies

Country needs exit from Cho Kuk turmoil

The largest conservative Liberty Korea Party (LKP) will organize another political rally at Gwanghwamun in central Seoul, Saturday, even though Cho Kuk has already stepped down as justice minister.

LKP floor leader Rep. Na Kyungwon made it clear Friday that the party will continue to hold such rallies, describing Cho's resignation as only the "beginning of judgment" against President Moon Jaein. "What we must fight against are Moon's arrogance, tyranny and destruction of the constitutional order," Na said during a party meeting. "If we stop here, there will be a second Cho and a third Cho. Persons like Cho will appear over and over again."

The party said the "October Movement" by patriotic, democratic citizens will become stronger and stronger as time passes.

Come on. Any party can hold a political gathering in any permitted place. Freedom of speech should be respected absolutely; but is it really necessary now to hold such a demonstration? Given the severe fatigue from the Cho Kuk scandal that has dominated the national agenda for the past three months, and all the divisive weekend rallies for and against him, let's stop and think about ways to move on. He has quit!

In a way, the LKP gives the impression that it is desperate to get even with the "Candlelight Revolution" that ultimately led to ouster of conservative President Park Geunhye in 2017. If it is not, the party should stop organizing such rallies, and compete to come up with policy ideas aimed at improving the people's livelihoods.

The political situation in the country is really awful considering the growing signs of an economic downturn and the rapidly changing security environment concerning North Korea. Of course, the biggest responsibility for the turbulent domestic politics lies with President Moon and his ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). They are surely to blame for what it is today. But it's also frustrating to see how the LKP is doing as the main opposition party. It should ask if it is opposing "anything Moon" for the sake of opposition.

The country definitely needs an exit from the political turmoil over Cho Kuk. He and his relatives will be punished accordingly if they did anything wrong and are found guilty.

Early this week, the party suddenly took issue with the Moon administration's plan to create an independent investigative agency to tackle corruption involving high-ranking public officials, vowing to block it. But related bills were already fast-tracked by four other parties in April for early voting at the National Assembly, which will take place in several months. The LKP initially promised to participate in negotiations over the reform bills, but changed its position to boycott the talks.

The LKP's Na said, after Cho resigned, the next goal was to undo the "evil scheme," and this will be the biggest issue at its upcoming rallies. The party should check to see if it is losing touch with reality.