Lee Jun-seok: "Hong Jun-pyo is free to leave, but cannot enter at will"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Former Liberty Korea Party leader Hong Joon-pyo has expressed his intention to run as an independent candidate, while Lee Jun-seok, Supreme Council member of the United Future Party, stated, "Leaving the party is free, but entering is not free."

On the 13th, Lee appeared on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' and said, "If he is considering running as an independent, he must be deeply troubled internally."

He said, "Our (United Future Party Supreme Council) official meetings have never once discussed the whereabouts of former leader Hong," adding, "Hong keeps saying, 'I have to leave, but the 3 million party members weigh on my mind,' which indicates that although he feels he must leave, he finds it difficult to make that decision."

Lee continued, "Former leader Hong has been a presidential candidate and is trying to run again. From his perspective, leaving is at his discretion, but returning is not so easy," and questioned, "Is he someone who would run as an independent presidential candidate?"

He added, "Ultimately, he should be the presidential candidate of this party. Although he has been accumulating justification for a few days, whether he has truly built enough grounds to leave the party is something that former leader Hong, who has more political experience than anyone, will decide."

Regarding the United Future Party's request for reconsideration of the nomination committee's decisions, he explained, "Requests for reconsideration were made for six people, but in-depth discussions were mainly about three of them."

In particular, for Min Kyung-wook, the incumbent member of Incheon Yeonsu-eul, who was cut off from the nomination due to offensive remarks on social network services (SNS), it is difficult to make a quick judgment because of his strong competitiveness in the metropolitan area. Lee said, "Personal SNS slanders are something that the public should evaluate once," and added, "Since there are those who argue that Min has competitiveness in the metropolitan area, it is necessary to let him be judged."

Regarding former emergency committee chairman Kim Jong-in's objections to the nomination of Tae Young-ho, Lee said, "Former chairman Kim is someone who always has very clear demands when working with any faction. Honestly, there are several other requests besides that," but added, "In this case, I mentioned that it is right to support Tae Young-ho, and since most Supreme Council members agreed, this case is very different from the others who requested reconsideration yesterday."

He said, "(Former chairman Kim) seems to be testing how much actual influence his statements have," and emphasized, "The composition of the election committee will be finalized before Monday."

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