Justice Party's Yeo Young-guk Initiates Reform: "Major Shift in Party Line, Launching New Strategy for Presidential Election"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Former lawmaker Yeo Young-guk, who is running unopposed for the Justice Party leadership, is set to initiate internal party reform and reshape domestic politics targeting next year's presidential election. Facing the greatest crisis since its founding due to former party leader Kim Jong-chul's sexual harassment scandal, the Justice Party must rebuild its identity from the ground up in the little over a year remaining until the presidential election. Although the party marks its 10th anniversary in 2022, it plans to return to its original spirit and sequentially restore trust, identity, and vision.

Former lawmaker Yeo Young-guk, who is running unopposed in the Justice Party leadership election, is holding a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office on the 9th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Yeo Young-guk, virtually confirmed as the next leader of the Justice Party, held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office on the 9th, expressing his ambition to "reestablish the identity and line of the progressive party." Although formally a leadership candidacy declaration, since Yeo is the sole candidate, it can be seen as his first pledge as party leader.

On the day, Yeo said, "The party's trust has collapsed starting from the closest circles, failing to properly respond to the faith of 50,000 party members and 3 million supporters," adding, "I will start by restoring trust."

Within the party, the explanation is that they aim to break free from accumulated inertia and, for next year's presidential and local elections, create a new political alliance against the two major parties as an ‘anti-establishment political coalition.’

Yeo stated, "The era of the anti-conservative democratic coalition is over," and added, "To dismantle the entrenched two-party system, I will reshape Korean politics through an anti-establishment political coalition that confronts inequality, the climate crisis, and discrimination." To this end, he plans to immediately form a presidential and local election preparation team upon being elected party leader.

True to his background as a labor activist, he also revealed his ambition to achieve comprehensive party innovation centered on 'labor.' He plans to establish a 'Labor Life Safety Organization' to connect the party's central and regional branches and create a responsible decision-making body involving key party executives, sector representatives, and regional committee chairs.

Yeo said, "I will no longer speak of crisis," and added, "I will become a strong counterforce to the entrenched establishment, approaching more humbly and closely to the lives of the vulnerable affected by COVID-19, labor, and housing issues."

The Justice Party will conduct election campaigning until the 17th, followed by a referendum vote from the 18th to the 23rd, and finalize the party leader on the 23rd.

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