Hwang Kyo-ahn, 'Thirty Thousand Ri Searching for Difficult Terrain' Losing Ground... Replaced by Yoo Seung-min?

Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of the Liberty Korea Party, is meeting with Representative Lee Chan-yeol at the National Assembly on the 6th. Lee Chan-yeol, known as a close aide to Sohn Hak-kyu of the Bareunmirae Party, left the Bareunmirae Party and joined the Liberty Korea Party. Photo by Yoon Dong. doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of the Liberty Korea Party, has delayed his decision, leaving him at a crossroads where he must choose either to run for Jongno or not run at all. His position is disappearing entirely. It is reported that the Liberty Korea Party’s Nomination Management Committee pressured him to not run if it was not Jongno. The party leader’s indecision negatively affects the overall party strategy, which pledged a 50% turnover of incumbents. His prolonged hesitation has become a self-inflicted setback.

On the 7th, a senior official of the Liberty Korea Party said, "At this point, (Leader Hwang’s) not running is the answer," adding, "If he intended to run in a tough district in the metropolitan area, he should have immediately raised the flag and fought. That is the basic principle of fighting, but now everything has been lost."

When asked by reporters about the possibility of not running, Leader Hwang said, "The spirit of the times is to judge the Moon administration by any means and win the general election to save the Republic of Korea, and I will make a decision that does not go against this spirit." He continues to repeat only general statements. The Nomination Management Committee meeting, originally scheduled for today, has been postponed to the 10th.

Although it has been well over a month since Leader Hwang declared he would run in a 'tough district,' he has only been weighing options regarding Jongno, where former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon is running. Meanwhile, there has been speculation that Yongsan, Yeongdeungpo-eul, and Yangcheon-gap could be alternatives for Leader Hwang. The Liberty Korea Party is said to have conducted opinion polls in these areas to assess Leader Hwang’s chances of winning.

However, it is difficult to predict the chances of winning in these districts, and there is a high possibility of receiving criticism without justification. Yongsan, Leader Hwang’s birthplace, has been expected to be the most likely alternative to Jongno, but six Liberty Korea Party preliminary candidates are already running there.

They include former Ambassador to China and three-term National Assembly member Kwon Young-se, former Liberty Korea Party Yongsan District Committee Chairwoman Hwang Chun-ja, who was head of Seoul Metro’s Management Innovation Headquarters, and 42-year-old Liberty Korea Party legal advisory committee member Cho Sang-gyu. In a district where senior party members, women, and youth are fiercely competing, the party leader taking a position would inevitably be criticized as inappropriate.

Yongsan is where Minister of the Interior and Safety Jin Young declared he would not run. On the 6th, Kwon Hyuk-gi, a former Blue House Press Secretary and Liberty Korea Party Yongsan preliminary candidate, wrote on his Facebook, "I welcome Private First Class Hwang Kyo-ahn’s candidacy in Yongsan, retreating from the Jongno front and aiming for the Yongsan high ground."

Within the Liberty Korea Party, there are many opinions that if not Jongno, it would be desirable for symbolic reasons to run in Yeongdeungpo-eul, which includes the National Assembly in Yeouido. However, this district has been won twice by Democratic Party member Shin Kyung-min in the 19th and 20th National Assembly elections, and this time former Democratic Party member Kim Min-seok is also competing.

Shin said on Facebook, "Is Yeongdeungpo-eul a 'winnable tough district' for Leader Hwang? I will gladly inform you that it is an 'unwinnable tough district,'" while former member Kim declared, "I will win the primary and wait in Yeongdeungpo-eul, my political hometown and the cradle of Yeouido politics."

Yangcheon-gap is an area densely populated with high-rise apartments in Mok-dong. From the Liberty Korea Party’s perspective, it is considered a 'sunny place' rather than a 'tough district.' Yangcheon-gap incumbent Democratic Party member Hwang Hee said, "Our district was governed by the Liberty Korea Party for six consecutive terms, totaling 24 years, but I was elected in the last general election with the highest votes in Seoul."

There are also voices calling for Yoo Seung-min, chairman of the Conservative Reconstruction Committee of the New Conservative Party, to run in Jongno. Kwon Sung-joo, spokesperson for the New Conservative Party, urged Yoo’s candidacy on Facebook the day before, saying, "If we cannot stop former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon in Jongno, it will be difficult to stop the Lee Nak-yeon administration. I believe there is someone who can stop him," urging Yoo to run in Jongno. Yoo has expressed his intention to run in Daegu Dong-gu-eul, where he has been elected four times.

Conservative unification is stagnant. Leader Hwang and Chairman Yoo were initially expected to meet around the 4th or 5th, but the meeting did not materialize after Leader Hwang rejected Yoo’s proposal for an 'election alliance.' Some in the political sphere speculate that only some members of the New Conservative Party will join the Liberty Korea Party.

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