Ongoing Resignations of Mid-Level Members... Hwang Kyo-ahn's 'Responsibility Debate vs. Empowerment'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] As senior members of the Liberty Korea Party continue to announce their withdrawal from the upcoming election, conflicting views of 'accountability' and 'support' for party leader Hwang Kyo-ahn are emerging.

On the 3rd, Representative Yeo Sang-gyu of the Liberty Korea Party appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and criticized the process of passing the fast-track (rapid processing) bills, while also raising the issue of responsibility on Leader Hwang by saying, "The party showed a very powerless stance during the processing of this bill, which the party leader opposed even going on a hunger strike for."

He stated, "The powerless image of the party is due to problems with the leadership of the party's top officials," and added, "Everyone already shares the belief that without conservative unity in the next general election, victory is impossible, but the party leadership has not taken even a single step toward conservative unity." Although Leader Hwang held a press conference on the first day of the new year strongly emphasizing the need for conservative unity and left the door open for rejoining the party, Yeo believes that this alone is insufficient to achieve conservative unity.

Representative Yeo said, "There should be direct contact between the party leadership and those targeted for integration, such as members of the Bareunmirae Party, for example, Representative Yoo Seung-min or former Representative Ahn Cheol-soo," and added, "To do this, (Leader Hwang) needs to relinquish his current position within the party." Yeo also proposed that Leader Hwang resign, transition to a provisional leadership system, and bring in an external figure as the head of the emergency committee to demonstrate reform.

Representative Kim Do-eup, who served as Chief of Staff to Leader Hwang, also attracted attention as it was reported that he announced his withdrawal from the election without consulting Leader Hwang. This has raised doubts about Leader Hwang's leadership. Consequently, attention is focused on whether additional withdrawal movements will emerge beyond the nine members who have already declared their intention not to run.

On the other hand, despite the successive withdrawal announcements by senior members, there are voices supporting Leader Hwang. Representative Han Sun-kyo, known as a core 'pro-Hwang' figure within the Liberty Korea Party, declared his withdrawal from the general election the day before, stating, "There are many criticisms and complaints about the Hwang leadership, but I decided to withdraw to strengthen support for him," and defended him by saying, "Although the politician Hwang Kyo-ahn may not have shown the image of a strong opposition leader to the public over the past 10 months, he is the only politician who has demonstrated sincerity in the political arena through a hunger strike and struggle, risking his life." However, it remains uncertain how widely the support for Leader Hwang, like that of Representative Han, will spread.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.