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Kim Moon-soo, presidential candidate of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), greets citizens as he arrives at a campaign rally held at Sau Culture and Sports Plaza in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, on May 21. / Photo by Song Ui-joo

Kim Moon-soo, presidential candidate for the ruling People Power Party (PPP), on May 21 harshly criticized the election law revision pushed through the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee by the opposition Democratic Party, calling it “a thief trying to abolish the crime of theft.”

Speaking at a campaign rally in Sau Culture and Sports Plaza in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, Kim likened the move to removing legal accountability to avoid a criminal ruling. “If a thief is caught for stealing and thinks he’ll be convicted, so he tries to eliminate theft from the criminal code — how is this any different?” he said. “Even Hitler didn’t do something like this. There’s no precedent in world history.”

He accused the Democratic Party of tailoring laws to protect its own leader. “They’ve stripped away the parts that incriminate them to make their own law,” Kim said. “Have you ever seen such a brazen dictator? I’ve neither heard of nor seen anything like it.”

Mocking Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung’s public appearances, Kim added, “It’s hot out, so don’t bother sweating in bulletproof vests and behind bulletproof glass. If you’re in prison, you don’t need any of that. Now they’re even mobilizing lawmakers for legislative bulletproofing.”

He also criticized the party's name itself, saying, “There is no ‘democracy’ in the Democratic Party. Meanwhile, in the People Power Party, there’s so much democracy that it gives me a headache. But that’s what democracy is — a little chaotic.”

“Democracy is a process of unifying opinions amidst complexity and disorder,” Kim continued. “Thanks to your passionate support and encouragement, even though we started a bit late, we will surely win.”

Kim went on to present local campaign pledges, particularly focusing on transportation. “The Gimpo Gold Line is too small and cramped,” he said. “I know well how people suffer riding something that feels like a can of bean sprouts.”

Promising better transit options, he declared, “I’ve already worked on GTX-A, B, and C lines. I’ll immediately push to launch the GTX-D line in Gimpo. I promise to solve the transportation issues for Gimpo residents.”

Kim concluded with a pledge to create more jobs. “Gimpo, as a frontline area, is heavily restricted with military protection zones,” he said. “We haven’t been able to build proper industrial complexes. We’ve built housing in new towns, but there aren’t enough jobs. There’s a lot of good land in Gimpo, and I’ll use it to build research centers and workplaces.”