300 Days Since Inauguration: Kim Jong-in Leaving People Power Party to Join Yoon?

Leaving the People Power Party After the April 7 By-Election
Will He Become the 'King Maker' in the Next Presidential Election?
Yoon: "Not Just a Simple Prosecutor. Has a Lot of Political Sense"

On the 23rd, when the unified opposition candidate poll results for the Seoul mayoral election were announced, Kim Jong-in, the Emergency Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, responded to reporters' questions at the National Assembly. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] Kim Jong-in, the Emergency Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, marked his 300th day in office on the 27th. Since accepting the position last May, Chairman Kim has been attempting party reform efforts. It is also widely analyzed that Kim played a significant role in making Oh Se-hoon the unified opposition candidate in the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election.

The party's approval rating has also been on the rise. According to a Gallup Korea poll conducted from the 23rd to the 25th among 1,001 adults nationwide aged 18 and over, the People Power Party's approval rating showed an upward trend for five consecutive weeks, reaching 29%, the highest since the 2016 political scandal. The Democratic Party of Korea's approval rating was at a historic low of 32%. This survey was conducted via telephone interviewer interviews, with a sampling error of ±3.1 percentage points (95% confidence level) and a response rate of 16%. Detailed information can be found on the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.

Eleven days remain in his term. Chairman Kim announced that he will leave the People Power Party after this by-election. In a radio broadcast appearance the day before, he said, "I will disappear from here on April 8, so I don't feel the need to comment on what happens afterward." When asked again, he drew a line by saying, "I'm not someone who talks nonsense."

Although he will step down as the Emergency Committee Chairman after the election, there is a prevailing analysis that Kim will play the role of a 'kingmaker' in the upcoming presidential election. Curiosity is growing especially as he gave a positive interpretation of former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, who is currently leading the presidential polls.

In the same radio interview, Chairman Kim said, "People often say that the Prosecutor General only has experience as a prosecutor, so how can he know diplomacy or economics?" He added, "But if you look at past presidents of our country, there are very few who knew everything." He continued, "He seems to have gone through many ups and downs and read many books during that time," and evaluated, "So when I talk about him, he is not just a simple prosecutor." He also said that Yoon has a lot of political sense.

Kim Jong-in, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, is attending the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 22nd and delivering an opening remark. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

In his memoir-style book There Is No Eternal Power, Chairman Kim said the following:

"When the Democratic Party (Millennium Democratic Party) advocated itself as a policy party and sought change, I was recruited as a proportional representative. After that, I intended to retire from politics but entered the Grand National Party at Park Geun-hye's request to change the party platform and policies and attempt to create a new party. Our relationship grew distant during the process of helping Park Geun-hye become president, but then I entered the Democratic Party (Democratic Party of Korea) at Moon Jae-in's request to revive the collapsing party and lead the general election to victory. The revived Democratic Party became a major driving force behind Park Geun-hye's impeachment. In a way, I ended up impeaching the person I helped elect. In the continuation of that responsibility, I even declared my candidacy for president to create a third political force that was neither the ruling party nor the opposition, but it ended as an unfulfilled political experiment."

This is why attention is focused on Chairman Kim's next move, as he believes his moment of glory has long passed.

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