Kwon Young-se: "Yoon Seok-yeol, There Is No Third Zone... You Must Join a Political Party"

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Kwon Young-se, Member of the People Power Party./Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy reporters Naju-seok and Geum Bo-ryeong] "Wanting to become president from a third zone like French President Macron does not fit the reality of our country. Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol must join a political party."

Rep. Kwon Young-se, who announced his intention to run for the leadership of the People Power Party, recently gave this advice to former Prosecutor General Yoon, who is leading the presidential opinion polls, in an interview with Asia Economy. Rep. Kwon introduced himself by saying, "I am a senior-junior at university with former Prosecutor General Yoon and we have been close through academic societies." However, he added, "We have not been in contact recently," explaining, "If we kept in touch, I could not say that I will become party leader and manage the primary fairly."

Rep. Kwon cited the experience during Ban Ki-moon’s tenure as UN Secretary-General and the public sentiment revealed in the April 7 by-elections as reasons why former Prosecutor General Yoon should join the People Power Party. Having supported Ban in the last presidential election, he said, "Because approval ratings fluctuated, those who said they would leave the party did not step forward, and he was almost standing alone in the wilderness, eventually dropping out of the election midway. The lesson learned then was that there is no third zone." He also explained that in the unification of the Seoul mayoral candidate, Oh Se-hoon, then the People Power Party candidate, defeating Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, demonstrated the status of the ‘platform of the main opposition party.’

Rep. Kwon stated that the reason for challenging the party leadership is that he wants to utilize his experience from the last four presidential elections. He served as the head of the comprehensive situation room of the central election committee during the 19th presidential election. Additionally, during the 2007 presidential election, when conflicts between the pro-Lee Myung-bak (Chin-i) and pro-Park Geun-hye (Chin-bak) factions were severe, Rep. Kwon took on the role of mediator. He mentioned, "When former Prosecutor General Yoon comes onto the party platform, internal conflicts may increase. Experience is required to manage these aspects effectively."

Regarding preparations for the presidential election within the party, he also said, "It is necessary to consider measures such as early formation of candidate verification committees to prevent unnecessary competition and disputes and to protect against external attacks."

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