Sim Jae-cheol: "Kim Jong-in Never Demanded Full Authority... Now Is the Last Chance for Innovation"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Lee Ji-eun and Kim Hye-min] Shim Jae-cheol, Acting Party Leader of the United Future Party, requested support for the transition to the Emergency Response Committee (ERC), stating that "former Chief Election Committee Chairman Kim Jong-in never demanded full authority."

Acting Leader Shim said at the United Future Party elected members' meeting held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 28th, "There are reports in the media saying it is full authority and indefinite, but to be clear, it is not full authority but the authority of the party leader."

He added, "The authority of the Policy Committee Chair and Floor Leader elected through the election remains intact. Even if it is the ERC Chair, they exercise the authority of the party leader," and said, "The term 'full authority' is a media misreport, and it is not indefinite either."

Acting Leader Shim explained, "When I spoke to Kim Jong-in, the ERC Chair, I said, 'The election is in March the year after next; shouldn't we complete everything and establish the system by one year before the presidential election?'" He added, "In that regard, he did not directly say how long he would serve."

He said, "The message the people gave to our party in this general election is 'Change and innovate, transform.' Especially regarding how to win the upcoming presidential election the year after next, we must thoroughly change accordingly," and emphasized the necessity of the ERC transition, saying, "There must be changes accompanied by painful self-sacrifice for the people to look at us again, and in that sense, now is the last chance for change and innovation."

Regarding criticism about deciding the ERC transition through a telephone survey, he said, "We held a members' meeting on Monday, but only 30 people gathered, so we could not start any discussion," and added, "The next day, we called all 142 members, including 20th National Assembly members and 21st elected members, and since no alternative could gain a majority, we decided to follow the option with the most support, and the majority opinion was to proceed with the 'Kim Jong-in ERC.'"

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