Ahead of Wednesday’s parliamentary elections, the Saenuri Party and conservative media have been escalating their offensive against DUP nominee Kim Yong-min over past sexist and anti-establishment remarks.

The liberal party on Friday pointed to a video clip of a play titled “Hwansaeng Gyeongje (Resurrecting the Economy),” in which Saenuri lawmakers and officials heaped insults on then-President Roh Moo-hyun.

“The Saenuri Party has been acting as though vulgar remarks on the Internet by a young man eight years ago will ruin the country. But did they offer a single word of apology over a vulgar play that was ‘broadcasted’ all over the country?” DUP spokesperson Park Yong-jin said Sunday.

On Friday, DUP Supreme Council member Moon Seung-keun posted the video clip on his Twitter account. Professor Cho Kisuk of Ewha Womans University, a former press aide to Roh, demanded that Saenuri lawmakers who appeared in the play resign.

The controversial play was performed in 2004 by members of the then-main opposition Grand National Party --¡¡formerly the Saenuri Party.

Its main character Nogari, played by Rep. Joo Ho-young, is thought to represent Roh. The resemblance is made clear by his use of Roh’s catch phrases and sardonic references to Roh’s key policies such as the new administrative city of Sejong and inter-Korean reconciliation.

Throughout the play, Nogari is portrayed as an incompetent, ill-tempered person who is responsible for the death of his son Gyeongje –- which means “economy” in Korean. The play bombards Nogari with vulgar and sexist remarks.

A friend of Nogari’s wife Geunae –- who resembles Saenuri Party leader Park Geun-hye -– tells her that Nogari “does not deserve to have (male reproductive organs) dangling on him” and suggests that she should leave him and demand his sex organs in a divorce.

The friend, played by Rep. Park Sun-ja, says he should be mercilessly executed, and nearly every character showers him with profanities.

The play also ridicules people that resisted authoritarian leaders. A character played by Rep. Chung Doo-un says he became a democratic activist just by urinating on President Chun Doo-hwan’s picture.

In the last scene of the play, the god of death promises to bring Gyeongje back to life in exchange for Nogari’s life three years later.

Since Roh had three years left in his term as president at the time, this was widely interpreted as suggesting that Roh should be ousted to invigorate the economy.

Upon its release, the play was fiercely criticized by the Roh administration “for ridiculing the head of state with such preposterous and abusive words.”



By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)