Kim Woong Challenges 'Party Innovation': "Leaders Who Can't Read the Times Fall Behind"

Faction, Nomination, and Reinstatement: Targeting the Existing Political Order of the Opposition Party

Kim Woong, a member of the People Power Party, and Won Youngseop, former Deputy Head of Organization of the United Future Party, are discussing at the "Can the People Power Party Achieve Generational Change? Roundtable" hosted by Future Korea at the Free Enterprise Institute in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, on the 3rd. / Photo by Won Youngseop, former Deputy Head of Organization

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Kim Woong, a first-term lawmaker who announced his intention to run for the leadership of the People Power Party, argued that "the face of the party must change" in order to win this year's presidential election. He also criticized the label 'Yoo Seung-min faction,' saying "there are no factions" and calling it "old-fashioned factional politics."

On the 3rd, at a roundtable discussion titled 'Can the People Power Party undergo generational change?' hosted by Future Korea at the Free Enterprise Institute in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Kim said, "The overall political landscape is moving toward whether or not it will change." Former Future United Party Deputy Secretary-General Won Young-seop also attended the discussion.

Kim diagnosed, "Ultimately, the times have changed. The 1990s and 2000s are different, and the 2020s are changing so fast that it is hard to keep up with the pace of change." He added, "If a leader cannot properly read the times, relying only on past experience and wisdom will leave them behind. If you want to win the next election, you need the ability to interpret it with new leadership."

He emphasized that he could be the alternative. He said, "If the face changes, the public will perceive that our party has changed, which will lead to support and eventually to victory in the presidential election. If you want change, vote for Kim Woong."

As a party reform measure, he proposed 'nomination reform.' Kim said, "The most important thing to change politics is nominations. Talking about youth politics or youth parties a hundred times is useless. We should allocate about 30% of nominations to youth at the basic or metropolitan levels." This means giving nominations to representatives of various groups such as youth, labor, and environment so that they can directly enter the party and raise their voices.

Regarding questions about factional dynamics within the party, he criticized, "Among ourselves, there is no talk of factions. But once it comes to party leadership competition, they keep inserting faction frames." Regarding the label 'Yoo Seung-min faction,' he responded, "Labeling it as a faction and regionalizing it is old-fashioned factional politics. It started because former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min wanted to engage in politics and shared the idea of warm conservatism."

On issues related to the influx of non-incumbent figures into the party, such as former lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo's reinstatement, merger with the People Party, and recruitment of former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, he expressed his belief that "we should not just expand the base unconditionally but move toward the center." He added, "To those asking for reinstatement, I want to say, ask yourself how much you have changed." He also said, "Those who prepare for the election with responsibility can come in anytime."

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