Kim Jong-in "Public Opinion Already Decided... United Future Party Confident of Majority in General Election"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hye-min] Kim Jong-in, the General Election Committee Chairman of the United Future Party, stated on the 8th, "I am confident that we will secure a clear majority in this general election."

On the day when the general election was just seven days away, Kim held a press conference at the National Assembly and expressed his confidence, saying, "I believe the outcome has already been decided, not that public opinion is changing."

He said, "Although various complex factors will come into play in this election, fundamentally, it inevitably reflects the evaluation of President Moon Jae-in's leadership over the past three years," adding, "The public must have seen how important presidential leadership is through the 'Cho Kuk incident.'"

In particular, regarding the response to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), he criticized, "The economy, which has been devastated over the past three years, has become even more difficult due to COVID-19, but the president's leadership is not visible," and added, "About ten days ago, when I became the election committee chairman, I proposed reallocating 20% of the government budget as emergency funds to overcome economic difficulties, but the president has yet to make a decision."

Kim said, "The fastest way to implement this is to invoke emergency decree powers, but whether it is because they don't know or don't want to, the president still hasn't made a decision," and added, "President Moon must make the judgment himself, but he is watching the situation unfold as if it were inevitable. Wise voters will clearly recognize this and reflect it in the election."

He also criticized the ruling party, the Democratic Party of Korea, saying, "Looking at the 20th National Assembly, I think the public has come to see it as a party that blindly acts as a rubber stamp," and pointed out, "A representative example is the appointment of Minister Cho Kuk. If the ruling party had made a proper judgment and consulted with the president, such a situation would not have occurred."

Kim expressed confidence in securing a majority, saying, "Looking back at past elections, there have been six general elections held at the end of a president's term. Except for one, the ruling party has never won," and added, "Currently, the ruling party's situation is worse than in past elections."

Regarding the expulsion of Kim Dae-ho, the candidate for Seoul Gwanak-gap, who caused controversy with his offensive remarks, Kim said, "The most important thing for a politician is 'words.' A single word can save or kill a person," and added, "He made a verbal mistake on the first day, and we decided to give him a chance, but he repeated the same mistake. I don't know if he realizes the impact on other candidates, but for their sake, we had no choice but to take firm action."

Regarding Rep. Yoo Seung-min's criticism of the emergency disaster relief fund as 'populism' and his confrontation with the party leadership, Kim said, "I don't know what his intention was in saying that. Please ask him directly," but added, "There will be no internal conflict within the party."

Regarding the early voting starting on the 10th, he said, "Our party encourages early voting, but it seems the Democratic Party hopes for a low turnout," and criticized, "This is an unacceptable attitude."

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