Wild style of progressives

When Rep. Moon Jae-in was named the presidential candidate of the main opposition Democratic United Party on Sunday, the minor opposition United Progressive Party held a party convention. But the latter had little public attention probably due to its internal conflict. The next day, however, a picture and video clip picked up by the media caused a stir on social networking sites. The picture and clip were about a horseriding dance, a parody of rapper Psy’s hit "Gangnam Style," by the progressive party`s former co-chairperson Lee Jeong-hee and Rep. Kim Jae-yeon, who decided to remain in the party despite their involvement in scandals.

Sharp critic Jin Joong-gwon said on his Twitter page, “We have the most bizarre version of `Gangnam Style` here. Instead of kneeling down and making an apology, they do a horseriding dance and sing ‘Eonni, Pyongyang Style.’ They seem to have gone mad.” Even avid supporters of liberal parties uploaded posts such as “They smile big and dance but I can’t smile. Am I alone?” Lee said she would run for president in December.

Lee and Kim obviously did the horseriding dance for a reason. A video clip of the event showed that Lee shed tears out of regret over the party`s fracture due to a scandal involving candidate recommendations. “I shed tears watching (student party members’) dance but wiped tears because I`d feel sorry for the student members if I kept crying,” she wrote on her Facebook page, adding, “Then I laughed and danced with them. I heard our ancestors’ humor was like that.” She sounds as if she sublimated her sadness to happiness. Conservative critic Byeon Hee-jae said it was her sense of betrayal and hatred of Rhyu Si-min, Seo Gi-ho and Jin Joong-gwon.

Whatever the reason, the “liberal style” of the faction that remains in the progressive party seems awkward. “Gangnam Style,” a hit with more than 190 million clicks on YouTube, has gone viral and drawn global attention to Korean pop culture. When a U.S. news anchor asked Psy why his song was a global fad, he shouted, “Daehanminguk Manse!” and proudly said it means "Long live the Republic of Korea." The progressive party, however, regressed from true liberalism when Rep. Kim Seon-dong threw a tear gas canister in the National Assembly in November last year and called it "a great deed." The party also has as a member someone who says the Korean national anthem is not an anthem.

Editorial Writer Ha Tae-won (triplets@donga.com)