Kim Eun-hye: "Maximizing People Power's 'Charm Capital' through the 'Hwangoltaltae Program'" [Full Text]

Declaration of Candidacy for Party Leader
Open to Unification Among First-Term Lawmakers

Kim Eun-hye, a member of the People Power Party, is declaring her candidacy for party leader in front of the fountain at the Blue House on the 14th. (Photo by Park Joon-yi)

[Asia Economy Reporters Hyunju Lee and Juni Park] On the 14th, Kim Eun-hye, a member of the People Power Party, declared her candidacy for party leader, stating, "I will break away from the familiar past and reform the People Power Party into a rational alternative party that the people can trust to manage state affairs."

At a press conference held in front of the Blue House fountain, Kim said, "A party like stale corn with no charm, a party that incites conflict rather than resolving it, will never gain the people's support," adding, "To transform the People Power Party into a party overflowing with attractive capital, I will immediately launch the 'People Power Party Rebirth Program' upon winning the party leadership."

Specifically, she proposed ▲ presenting solutions to low growth and polarization ▲ solidarity with the socially vulnerable ▲ a party that is confidently evaluated before history ▲ direct political participation of youth ▲ and the selection of presidential candidates through a fully open primary system.

Kim also hinted at the possibility of unification among first-term lawmakers on the same day. She said, "The emphasis is on driving a strong new wave," and "I am not closed off to unification itself."

Below is the full text of the candidacy declaration.

Respected citizens, beloved party comrades,

With a solemn heart before history and the people,

I hereby declare my candidacy for the leadership of the People Power Party.

The People Power Party now needs a revolutionary change that overturns the entire system.

The first step is a leadership change.

Not just any change, but a dramatic change.

We must replace the leadership with completely new faces so that the people can truly feel the change in the People Power Party.

If we talk about change and innovation but there is no change or innovation in the leadership,

the people's expectations and interest will completely drift away from the People Power Party.

We must achieve a dramatic leadership change that no one expected and no one could predict to finally win the presidential election.

The duty entrusted by the times, the urgency of the historical mission, and the firm confidence that it can be done have brought me, a first-term lawmaker, to this position.

I will break away from the familiar past and reform the People Power Party into a rational alternative party that the people can trust to manage state affairs.

With a completely new framework, I will make the people's aspiration for regime change a reality.

I will be the first train of the new dawn that opens a new era in Korean conservative politics.

Respected citizens,

Dear party comrades!

What the People Power Party needs now is not failed old experience wrapped in seniority.

It is the spirit of challenge and new imagination that fearlessly rushes toward uncharted paths.

The reason is clear.

We are facing a completely new situation that we have never experienced before.

More than half of the people desire regime change,

but it is uncertain whether the People Power Party, the main opposition party, can be the agent of regime change.

When the outlook is uncertain, we must create possibilities through efforts to overhaul the party. That is common sense.

But what is the situation?

We are talking about our future while only looking at the words of someone who has not even declared political participation yet.

Such judgment and choice are very hollow and precarious.

Recruitment? Good!

Unification? I agree!

But everything has a proper order.

Change comes first. Innovation comes first.

Policy competition and vision competition come first.

Each must present their policies and visions to the people

and go through the process and procedures to confirm whether they can walk together on the main path.

Opposition unification should be achieved naturally when the national justification is confirmed through all these processes.

Skipping necessary processes and procedures,

claiming personal advantages in recruitment due to various connections,

and saying seniority is needed for smooth unification?

The People Power Party is in trouble today because of such old politics.

Respected citizens,

Dear party comrades,

I will choose the path of reforming and changing the party

to regain the people's expectations and interest and restore national trust.

The direction of party innovation I envision is 'maximizing attractive capital.'

A party like stale corn with no charm,

a party that incites conflict rather than resolving it, will never accumulate the people's support.

A party that pushes reform aside

and looks outward like a moth to a flame?why would outsiders join such a party?

To transform the People Power Party into a party overflowing with attractive capital,

I will immediately launch the 'People Power Party Rebirth Program' upon winning the party leadership.

First, I will create a competent party that presents accurate solutions to low growth and polarization issues and stands in solidarity with the socially vulnerable.

The people are angry at the 'incompetence of the Moon Jae-in administration,'

but they doubt whether the People Power Party has alternatives in economy and welfare.

Responding to this question is a basic duty as a governing party.

The People Power Party is a party with a brilliant tradition that once led economic growth, democratization, globalization, and advancement.

We must revive our proud memories and successful DNA.

In addition to the economic and welfare issues demanded by 21st-century Korea,

I will present new solutions to socio-economic issues including housing, environment, labor, and gender,

and compete with real capability in next year's presidential election.

Second, I will rebirth the People Power Party as a dignified party that is confidently evaluated before history while discussing the fate of Korea's past and future.

The people are disillusioned with the Democratic Party's narrow-minded and bad politics that erode the future of the next generation, their divisiveness, and exploitation of activist backgrounds, but they are also fed up with the old-fashioned inertia of judging the world by color politics.

The people shudder at the Democratic Party's double standards, but they also do not trust the People Power Party's past.

We cannot govern like this.

The People Power Party will first break away from dichotomies and face history with a balanced perspective.

We will give the people a firm belief that even if the People Power Party comes to power, the clock will not turn backward.

We will heal the ruinous specter of divisiveness

and establish the People Power Party as an alternative party leading the future.

We will align ethical standards with the people's expectations

and transform the party into a new normal party with stricter political ethics for itself.

Third, I will transform the party into a future party where youth directly participate in politics.

The People Power Party will take the lead in ending the bad practice of using youth as ornaments

and judging the future youth will live in through the eyes of adults.

We will revise the party constitution and rules to codify youth candidate quotas,

and in next year's local elections, we will deploy a large number of 2030 youth candidates in strongholds.

Fourth, we will select the People Power Party's presidential candidate through a fully open primary (open primary) that anyone can participate in.

We will elevate the presidential primary to a national festival.

When the party is in difficulty, we must trust the people and open the party.

The fully open primary is the most promising way to boost our party candidate's competitiveness through national enthusiasm

and break the regional party frame.

It is also a way to allow new candidates inside and outside the party to participate in the People Power Party presidential primary without any restrictions.

By gathering national interest and participation through the fully open primary,

we will make the People Power Party's return to power a reality.

Respected citizens,

Dear party comrades!

Above all, please do not be swayed by the two letters 'seniority.'

What our people want now is

the rebirth of the People Power Party,

and the new faces and new leadership that will achieve it. Please remember this.

The party leader who must break through an unprecedented extraordinary situation

does not need failed old experience.

With a vision fitting the new spirit of the times and unwavering drive, I will

raise the People Power Party to become Korea's ruling party.

In 1995, at the age of 23, as a new MBC reporter, Kim Eun-hye was

at the collapse site of the Sampoong Department Store.

In the chaotic scene where many lives hung in the balance,

absurdly, a blame game of 'poor construction' or 'no' unfolded.

Though anger arose, the path I chose then was not to stand still and criticize,

but to rush into the darkness in search of the truth.

I braved fear and entered the accident site,

found the blueprints among the collapsed building debris,

and revealed that the collapse was due to poor construction.

Now, 26 years later, I stand at the site where politics is collapsing and people's lives are falling apart.

What is needed at such a moment is not complicated calculation but a simple and clear choice, which I instinctively know.

We do not know what lies behind the darkness, but someone must jump in.

I will once again rush into the darkness to find the path to regime change.

Please be the light for me, Kim Eun-hye.

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