One year of Korean politics fluctuated by the number of coronavirus confirmed daily

The biggest issue in politics over the past year was by far the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19). After three major proliferations, Corona 19 has sometimes become a boon for the government and the ruling party, and sometimes gives a reflective profit to the opposition party, causing the approval rating to fluctuate. How did Corona 19 specifically affect Korea’s politics by period?

Wuhan pneumonia, Wuhan corona, Wuhan China 19.
Early Corona 19 was called by various names. The opposition party, the Liberal Korean Party, used the name of the Wuhan region in China, which is known as the corona 19 outbreak, in its name. It was intended to emphasize that the government and the ruling party were watching China. It also strongly insisted on the ban on entry of Chinese citizens. However, according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), the government designated Corona 19 as the official name because it promotes hatred when a specific region name enters the virus.

In March of last year, the first domestic group infection occurred at Shincheonji Church in Daegu. When the first group infection occurred in Daegu, the garden of the opposition party, some ruling party officials called it the Daegu Incident, the Daegu Corona, and the TK opposition party struck back. In addition, Democratic Party chief spokesman Hong Young-pyo said in a briefing at the results of the high-ranking party, government, and government council on February 25 last year, “We decided to implement a maximum blockade beyond the usual blocking measures and block the spread as soon as possible.” This expression of’Daegu blockade’ caused great controversy. Even though President Moon Jae-in went on to evolve, Congressman Hong Ik-pyo resigned the spokesman after a day in response to the backlash of Daegu citizens and opposition lawmakers.

The first group infection in Korea started at a Shincheonji Church located in Daegu, the garden of the opposition party. At this time, rumors spread among the political circles that’the opposition party and Shincheonji are related’. In a sermon in the past, General Chairman Lee Man-hee, Shincheonji, said, “I made the party name of the Saenuri Party”. The Liberal Korean Party sued Chairman Lee Man-hee for defamation. General Chairman Lee Man-hee also appeared at a press conference wearing a watch with the name of former President Park Geun-hye.

Since then, the spread of corona from Daegu has decreased, but the economic recession has begun. As telecommuting increased and private meetings decreased, Corona gradually began to change daily life. Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myeong and other people who had put forward a liberal policy raised the topic, and the ruling party lawmakers and the government reacted to it, and the discussion on disaster subsidies began in earnest. The government decided to give’emergency disaster subsidies’ to the people of the whole country as the economy was unfavorable ahead of the 4.15 general election.

Some ruling party lawmakers even used the discussion on disaster subsidies appropriately during the election. At the time, Democratic Party leader Lee In-young said, “If you elect Candidate Min-jung Ko, the Democratic Party together with me promises to do its best to provide emergency disaster assistance to 100% of the people.”

The result of the general election was the Democratic Party’s overwhelming victory, resulting in 180 seats. As a result, it was also evaluated that the emergency disaster money had a favorable effect on the ruling party in the general election. At the time, the Secretary-General of the Election Commission, Park Young-soo, attended the general meeting of the National Assembly Administrative Safety Committee on August 22 and said, “I think it must have had an effect on the election.” Kim Hyung-jun, professor of political science at Myongji University, said, “The corona crisis has led to a greater sense of future anxiety than judgment on the government, and it has turned into a prospective vote that expects the role of the government.”

The second pandemic began on August 15th, starting with Liberation Day. Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon Sarangjeil Church, who was released from the detention center with bail, violated the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s ban on the assembly and forced a large-scale assembly. Afterwards, as Pastor Kwang-Hoon Jeon and other attendees were confirmed in a pile, the corona daily confirmed case graph would soar for the second time. The government accused Pastor of violating the Infectious Disease Prevention Act.

The Future Integration Party is in trouble. It was about whether or not to keep a distance from the rigid support layer called’Taegeukgi forces’. Previously, the Unified Party had decided in its general election white paper that “attacking the middle class emerged as the party’s urgent need”, so after the defeat of the 4.15 general election, it has aimed to expand the middle of the way. This strategy worked, and after the general election, the approval rating of the unified party (real meter weekly trend) gradually rose. In the second week of August, it recorded 36.3%, leading the Democratic Party approval rating (34.5%) for the first time after the general election.

However, the Liberation Day rally poured cold water on the opposition party’s rise. In the opposition, it was argued that the Taegeukgi forces should be kept away. “Pastor Kwang-Hoon Jeon is playing the role of X-men who benefit the Moon Jae-in administration. The future of the Unification Party depends on whether or not it is separated from the extreme Taegeukgi forces” (Kim Geun-sik, Chairman of the Unification Party Song Pa-Byeong), “It is an obstacle to gathering public support” (Jeju Governor Hee-ryong Won). In September, the United Party changed its name to’People’s Power’ and announced a new start.

In October and November, both progressive and conservative camps plan large gatherings respectively. However, as the government responded differently to these two meetings, criticism was poured out that “the standards of government quarantine differ according to the camp.” On October 3, when conservative groups announced the Gwanghwamun rally on Gaecheon Day, the government built a barrier around Gwanghwamun to stop it. However, less than a month later, at the KCTU’s folk convention on November 14, such a barrier could not be seen.

With the cold after November, the corona begins to spread again around the metropolitan area. The government upgraded the distance-distance stage to 2.5 stages and raised the level of quarantine, such as banning groups of more than 5 people. The number of corona19 confirmed cases does not decrease easily despite the continuing strengthening quarantine stage, and on December 24th, the daily high of 1237 confirmed cases was reached. As vaccination began in overseas countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States, criticism came out saying, “Overseas vaccines were given, but domestic vaccines were not properly secured.” K quarantine, which has been the pride of the ruling party of the government, has been targeted for attack. With reflected profit, the opposition party’s approval rating reversed the ruling party’s approval rating for 7 weeks. The positive evaluation of the performance of the presidential administration (weekly trend of real meter) also stays at the 30% level for 7 weeks, recording the lowest approval rating during the term of office.

The ruling party, in a hurry, began to try to secure vaccines and to release money for consumption coupons and rent support for small businesses to recover from the frozen economy. Furthermore, they came up with powerful cards such as self-employment loss compensation and profit sharing. President Moon talked directly to Modena’s CEO on the phone and began securing a vaccine.

The by-election came in about two months. According to the vaccination schedule announced by the government, group immunity occurs after the third quarter of this year. In other words, it is expected that the corona will still have a strong influence on the by-election of the mayors of Seoul and Busan on April 7.

Representatives of the opposition parties heavily mentioned Corona in speeches to bargaining groups in the National Assembly on the 2nd and 3rd. Democratic Party representative Lee Nak-yeon gave a speech on the 2nd on the subject of’The People Ask About the Role of the State, Going Over the Corona to a New Welfare Country’. Representative Lee said, “Vaccines and treatments are also needed for people’s livelihood and economy. “I will prepare the 4th disaster support fund,” he explained about the three win-win solidarity law (loss compensation system, profit sharing system, social solidarity fund). Ho-young Joo, in a speech at the National Assembly bargaining group, said, “I propose to establish the’Post Corona Special Committee’ in the National Assembly to prepare the future strategy of Korea after the corona in parallel with efforts to overcome the corona crisis. Will influence the future of Korea in the future.”

Experts point out that the corona’s impact on this by-election is likely to be different from the last general election. Professor Kim Hyung-joon said, “There was a kind of learning effect, and since trust in the government has collapsed a lot, it will be difficult to bring about as much effect as the general election, no matter what kind of policy ahead of the election.”

Reporter Park Hae-ri [email protected]