2024 South Korea General Election: The Rebuilding Korea Party

Cho Kuk, April 6, 2024 : Cho Kuk (front L), leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party (aka the Korea Innovation Party) for proportional representation seats, holds a sign which a supporter prepared at the party's meeting with supporters in Seoul, South Korea, ahead of the April 10 general elections. The sign reads, "What the hell in two years (after President Yoon Suk-Yeol's inauguration). Cast a vote instead of a stone". Mock green onions in a mock Gucci bag which a supporter prepared for Cho's birthday celebration are seen. The mock green onions makes a parody of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol who aroused anger by finding the price tag of 875 won ($0.65) for a bunch of green onions a "reasonable price" at a grocery mall last month. The 875 won ($0.65) was a temporary discount price offered due to a government subsidy and the average retail prices of green onions was about 3,000 to 4,000 won ($2.2 to 2.9) for weeks, which was some of the highest levels over the years. The signs on a mock Gucci bag read, "Rather than Dior... Vote for 9 (the electoral symbol of the Rebuilding Korea Party)". The symbol of '9UCCI' is pronounced in Korean similarly to Gucci, luxury fashion brand, as '9' is pronounced as 'Gu'. The sign makes a parody of a scandal of South Korea's first lady Kim Keon-Hee who received a luxury Dior bag as a 'gift' in 2022. Cho Kuk, South Korea's former Justice Minister under the previous liberal Moon Jae-In administration, was an architect of the liberal government's prosecution reform. (Photo by Lee Jae-Won/AFLO)