Renewing United Future Party... "Abandon the Illusion of Appealing to the Centrist Voters and Defend Right-Wing Values First" (Comprehensive)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] The United Future Party has been urged to stop targeting the centrist voters and instead begin researching values unique to the right-wing. The centrist voters cannot simply be won over by targeting them; rather, they must be drawn in by appealing to values. The behavior of being led by conservative YouTubers was also criticized.

◆ The center is an illusion: "They have no values to advocate" = Jang Kyung-sang, Secretary General of the National Management Research Institute, said at the 'General Election Evaluation and Media Environment Analysis Seminar' hosted by the United Future Party Media Special Committee on the 18th, "The center is a target to be drawn in by shared values, not something that can be hunted down by chasing after them."

Secretary General Jang mentioned working hours, saying, "Centrists share conservative views that are negative about the economic impact of reducing working hours, yet they align with progressives on the issue of reducing working hours," adding, "We assume centrists are people who are not swept up in factional logic and make rational judgments with a balanced perspective, but they do not actually make rational judgments."

Kim Woong, a United Future Party elected member, agreed, saying, "Conservative lifestyle values are not stubborn obstinacy but acquired survival methods," and added, "At first, I also said we should go to the center, but the center has no values or policies to advocate. Especially young people have no ideological roots and can accept many other things."

Cheon Ha-ram, former candidate for Jeonnam Suncheon Gwangyang Gokseong Gurye district, said, "The center follows," and added, "To make the center follow, you have to be cool. To be cool, you must not be ridiculed and must not say unreasonable things that are far from the common sense of the majority of the people." This was a critique of the significant loss of centrist votes due to 'controversial remarks.'

Cheon said, "If words that do not align with the common sense of the majority accumulate, they become targets of ridicule and lose their coolness. What our party must do is to move from the realm of unreasonableness and ridicule to a realm of common sense and coolness."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

◆ Be faithful to right-wing values rather than chasing YouTubers = Criticism was also made regarding following conservative YouTubers. Secretary General Jang said, "Whenever something happens, they go to the wrong place (YouTube) to find answers. YouTubers are people who have come out because they have no place among the left and have never thought about right-wing ideas in their lives," and added, "We should stop listening to what YouTubers say."

He continued, "We need to create a sustainable group by incorporating a network of right-wing talents into the Yeouido Research Institute (Yeoyeon)," and said, "The right-wing needs research that contains right-wing values. Such research must start now."

Secretary General Jang pointed out, "The 2022 voter landscape shows a 7 to 3 ratio with high unfavorable views toward conservative parties," adding, "It is a completely tilted playing field. From the conservative party's perspective, only those aged 60 and above have favorable views, while everyone under 60 has become unfavorable."

He added, "The right-wing talks a lot about freedom and democracy but falls into elitism and nepotism, failing to actually practice freedom, democracy, and competition," advising, "The right-wing must practice first and innovate by involving youth, ordinary party members, and women at their levels."

◆ The United Future Party is behind the times: "Let's stop speaking informally" = In the following discussion, elected member Kim said, "I talked with people in their 20s, and while we think it is because of COVID-19, young people hardly mentioned COVID-19," and suggested the cause of defeat, saying, "Our party wants to deny it, but I felt we were behind the times."

He said, "The British Conservative Party in 1945 was exactly like this. Having experienced a wartime economy, the people were accustomed to the national system and mobilization economy and trusted the state-led survival solutions, but since they insisted on the old laissez-faire values, there was a huge gap," adding, "We were about 10 years behind the trend."

Lee Yoon-jung, former co-representative of the Yeoyeon Future Forum, said, "We are falling behind in the language war with the Democratic Party. We need to put on new clothes, but we have missed many parts," and suggested, "As a small proposal, let's stop speaking informally, slandering, and lying. Let's start with that."

Candidate Cheon also said, "We need to change the subject. Our party always starts statements with 'President Moon Jae-in' or 'The Democratic Party,' but from now on, the subject should start with 'The United Future Party,'" raising his voice, "Let's not always start by criticizing the government and ruling party, but first present what our opinions are."

The basic income system, which is being discussed mainly among the pro-government camp, was brought up as a topic. Secretary General Jang said, "Basic income will definitely be the top issue in the next presidential election," and proposed, "Public assets and national assets should be regarded as the assets of each citizen and returned to the people in the form of dividends. It should not be distributed like the left but should guarantee citizens' assets and property rights and return profits accordingly."

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