Joo Ho-young: "No Discord with Kim Jong-in... Will Meet Ahn Cheol-soo Soon"

"If There Had Been Discord Within the Party, It Would Have Been Known"

People Power Party Merger Possible Within 3 Days at Earliest

Regret Over Not Receiving Standing Committee Chair Positions

Joo Ho-young, Acting Party Leader and Floor Leader of the People Power Party (center), is holding a closing press conference at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 28th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] On the 28th, Joo Ho-young, the acting leader and floor leader of the People Power Party who is stepping down ahead of the election of the next leadership, addressed rumors of discord with former emergency committee chairman Kim Jong-in, saying, "Such things hardly happened," and added, "I feel wronged."

At a closing press conference held that day, Joo said during a Q&A session with reporters, "If there were any discord within the party, wouldn't it all be known?" and stated, "There was no such thing."

Earlier, former emergency committee chairman Kim mentioned in a media interview that Joo had conspired with Ahn Cheol-soo to give Ahn the Seoul mayoral candidacy. Regarding this, Joo explained, "It would be my achievement if our party’s candidate wins the Seoul mayoral election, so why wouldn’t I do that?" He added, "However, I received many requests from lawmakers and party members not to criticize Ahn Cheol-soo, the leader of the People’s Party, so I conveyed that intention once or twice. Regarding the polling method, candidate Oh Se-hoon asked me to say that they had reached an agreement and to accept it, so I conveyed that request. I think that could have been misunderstood."

Joo cited one of his accomplishments during his term as organizing the leadership system under former emergency committee chairman Kim. He said, "We gathered our party leader and chairman as standing advisors," and added, "The most important thing is whether he (former chairman Kim) is willing to do it. If there is an opportunity, I will confirm his intention and act accordingly." He continued, "He was deeply moved by the wrongdoings of the Moon Jae-in administration and participated in our emergency committee to stop that and correct the country, so I believe he will join forces and take the lead in preventing the Democratic Party from regaining power."

Regarding the merger with the People’s Party, he said he would meet with leader Ahn soon to discuss it. Joo said, "I received contact yesterday (the 27th)," and added, "I expect to meet as early as today or at the latest tomorrow." However, he noted that an absorption merger retaining one party’s name could be done in three days, but a new merger involving changing the party name and logo would take a long time and is expected to be the responsibility of the next leadership.

About former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, Joo emphasized the need for him to resolve past issues. He said, "Generally, people who have been in public office for a long time sometimes feel they were unintentionally harmed by decisions made during their service," and added, "(In my case as well) there may be people who feel I made wrong judgments, which is unavoidable given the nature of the job." He also said, "It is understood in this context that legal professionals, upon retirement, apologize to those who were unintentionally harmed during their duties."

As the most regrettable decision during his tenure as floor leader, Joo cited not receiving even one standing committee chair position. He said, "Some people ask what it would have been like if we had received a standing committee chair during the floor organization negotiations," and added, "I have thought about how the operation of the National Assembly might have changed if that had happened."

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