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Hong Joon-pyo, a former presidential candidate for the Liberty Korea Conservative Party, is campaigning in Seoul in May 2017. Hong, who lost, has often been compared to President Trump, but has since distanced himself saying, "He did not stick to his words." (Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images)
SEOUL – For South Korean conservatives, President Trump resembled to an ally. His harsh speech on North Korea, his pro-military views, and his disdain for liberal politics-all fit in perfectly with the ideas that had prevailed here for decades.
But nearly 18 months after his presidency, many acknowledge that Trump was a disaster for the besieged conservative movement in South Korea.
"I still can not get out of it," Hong Joon-pyo, former leader of the country's largest right-wing party, Liberty Korea, said about Trump's meeting with the northern leader -Korean Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore. "I never imagined that an American government would help a left-wing government in South Korea." [19659005] In a nation where the political right has long based its policy on a deep animosity toward North Korea and unwavering support for the US military alliance, the Conservatives find themselves facing a US leader who is not in favor of the US. is not only ready to meet and rent Kim. who meditates publicly on the withdrawal of troops.
South Korean rightists are in the midst of a crisis of identity. And the effect can be seen in the electoral votes and opinion polls.
In the June 13 regional elections, the Liberty Korea Party suffered a humiliating defeat, winning only two of the 17 major mayor and governorate seats and just over half of the Minjoo party's votes.
Liberal candidate Moon Jae-in defeated Hong in the presidential election last year by more than 17 percentage points. As president, Moon now enjoys a popularity rating of about 70%, suggesting that many supporters of conservative parties support him.
With legislative elections scheduled for 2020, Liberty Korea is reinventing South Korean conservatism. a desperate attempt to maintain political relevance. For Kang Yean-jae, a losing candidate for the party in the June regional elections, the prospects for the right are as bad as possible.
"It's not going to survive unless it changes completely," said Kang.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walks with President Trump during a break in talks during their summit in Singapore. (Anthony Wallace / AFP / Getty Images)
Among former right-wingers like Hong, despair is palpable. At a recent meeting at a Japanese restaurant in Jamsil's upscale neighborhood in Seoul, Hong was wearing a red blazer and shirt – a nod to the color of South Korean conservatism. But even though his impetuous tone once won him comparisons with Trump, Hong distanced himself now.
"Trump has turned out to be a person who takes diplomacy as something similar to a commercial transaction," he said.
[ While Pompeo visits Pyongyang, South Korea is quietly watching – and worries.
The rotten South Korean conservative movement settled before Trump's relaxation with North Korea. He sped up with a series of scandals surrounding former conservative president Park Geun-hye who deeply divided the movement
The daughter of former president Park Chung-hee, an autocrat who presided over a Economic boom only to be murdered in 1979, the young Park made history as South Korea's first female president in 2013. But crony allegations quickly saw her domestic support drop dramatically.
In November 2016, his popularity rating was only 4%, the lowest ever recorded in South Korea. In a subsequent vote of removal, nearly half of the legislators of her own party voted against her. Park was removed from office last year and was sentenced in April to 24 years in prison.
Impeachment caused schism among conservatives. Some were appalled by what their leader had done and distanced themselves from his party Saenuri, later renamed Liberty Korea.
"I can understand someone who goes to the left or who's fine – that's a choice they made – but she was going down to the basement," said Lee Jun- seok, a conservative educated at Harvard who left Saenuri for the scandal.
Yet support for Park persists, with great fervor, in the Korean Patriot Party, which organizes frequent rallies to protest its imprisonment. This group had already seen Trump as his savior; The partisans waved American and Israeli flags and invited him not only to liberate Park, but also to strike North Korea preventively.
Since the Singapore summit, Trump's face has been remarkably absent from pro-Park rallies. Seo Seok-gu, a Park lawyer who spoke at a rally in June, said many were disappointed that Trump met with Kim one day before local elections here. "We Conservatives criticized dictator Kim Jong Un," said Seo. "Why did Mr. Trump so openly greet the North Korean dictator?"
Supporters of former President Park Geun-hye gathered in front of the Seoul Central District Court on April 6.
Fracture limits the collective power of movement. The Party of Korean Patriots has only one member of parliament with 300 seats, but Bareunmirae, a smaller center-right party that includes conservatives who have moved away from Park, has 30 seats. Korea is by far the biggest with 112, but it remains divided along pro and anti-Park lines.
To win more seats in 2020, conservatives will have to think of a way to reach out to young voters, who polls widely to show support for Moon and the North Korean discussions that he has pushed. Recent reports that the South Korean military had developed plans for martial law during anti-Park protests led mainly by young people complicated the task. "It's actually the problem for conservative parties," said Kang Won-taek, a professor of political science at the Seoul National University. "There is no new look."
An emergency committee will decide Liberty Korea's new leadership – and with it, a new face for South Korean conservatism. But the party's historical platforms now seem out of touch with the Korean public and US leaders, which is unclear.
Some conservatives say that they should stick to their weapons, that the North Korean negotiations will soon collapse. back. Moon Chung-in, a liberal academic and presidential advisor, agreed that Conservative fortunes could rebound if North Korea talks fail.
"In South Korea, conservatism is not dead, it's alive and well." the power of big conservative newspapers such as Chosun Ilbo.
Others, however, contend that Liberty Korea must rotate as the country changes. Kang Yean-jae, who joined the party this year, said it's clear that people want peace with North Korea. The Conservatives must accept that, she says, while acting as a voice of caution.
Lee, who considers himself at the age of 33 as a younger generation of conservatives who want to put more emphasis on economic issues, said that possible, too: The Conservatives can finally rethink their absolute dependence on the US military. "It was inevitable," said Lee about the change. "It just changes sooner than we thought."
"In fact, I can not wait to be there," he added.
For older conservatives like Hong, such an adaptation could prove more difficult. From politics, Hong flew to Los Angeles on Wednesday. He said his plan is to stay in the United States for the next few months – to study North Korean issues.
Read more:
With some reservations, the East Asian countries are hosting the Trump-Kim summit
reason to be skeptical – and optimistic – about the dialogue with North Korea
South Korean President Moon is the man in the middle (very precarious)
The day's cover by postal correspondents from around the world
and stay updated on the news foreign
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