Kim Jong-in, Fostering Youth Politics and Reforming Yeouido Institute... Benchmarking Germany's Adenauer

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hye-min] Kim Jong-in, Emergency Committee Chairman of the United Future Party, is benchmarking the 'Konrad Adenauer Foundation,' the think tank of Germany's Christian Democratic Union, to reform the Yeouido Institute.

On the 26th, Chairman Kim held a meeting at the National Assembly with Stephan Samse, head of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation's Korea office, seeking advice on the reform direction of the Yeouido Institute and youth political education. This meeting was arranged as part of the 'Adenauer Project,' which will be fully launched next month.

In his opening remarks, Chairman Kim said, "The United Future Party is seeking change, and the development process of the CDU and the role of the Adenauer Foundation have been very helpful references." Samse responded, "The United Future Party and the CDU have cooperated closely for a long time, and many CDU politicians have visited Korea to learn how Korean politicians use SNS for communication."

Afterwards, Chairman Kim and Samse discussed the Yeouido Institute, youth, and education for 30 minutes. Jeong Won-seok, an emergency committee member who attended the meeting, told reporters after the discussion, "We talked about how the functions of the Yeouido Institute could be integrated with those of the Adenauer Foundation, and Chairman Kim showed particular interest in youth issues." He added, "(Samse) said that the party, think tank, and youth organization should harmonize, leading the agenda innovatively, and maintain a healthy relationship where they can have close yet independent voices."

Jeong further stated, "Chairman Kim emphasized that fragmentary and formal political education cannot nurture youth. He stressed the need to create substantial programs that address the essence and the hardships of youth, and to cooperate closely to achieve innovation across the entire conservative spectrum."

After the meeting, Chairman Kim emphasized to reporters that the functions of the Yeouido Institute must be innovatively changed.

He said, "The people at the Yeouido Institute must strictly evaluate the party and develop public opinion to develop policies; only then can it fulfill the true role of a think tank." He added, "As far as I understand, it is called an institute in name only, and it is difficult to grasp what it has actually done."

Chairman Kim also said, "The polling function needs to be supplemented. For example, the party's daily policy messages should be delivered to the public through ARS and other means, feedback should be collected, and the party should reevaluate accordingly, but this has not been done properly so far." He added, "With the upcoming presidential election, the entire system will inevitably be directed that way, so the Yeouido Institute will have no choice but to perform tasks that can be efficiently utilized in elections." Regarding youth political education, he said, "We especially need to reach out to the younger generation, and the party itself must nurture young politicians." He also mentioned, "I am considering creating an education program."

Chairman Kim plans to appoint the head of the Yeouido Institute next week and begin reform work. It is known that he has proposed the position to former lawmaker Ji Sang-wook.

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