People Power Party Presidential Candidates' 'Debate on the 18th' Conflict Escalates... "Lee Jun-seok, Step Back" Voices Also Raised

Differences Among Representative, Supreme Council Member, and Candidate Over Scope of Gyeongjunwi Activities
"Representative and Gyeongjunwi Should Step Down"

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Intense debates are taking place within the People Power Party regarding the scope of activities of the Primary Election Preparation Committee. The committee, the party leader, the Supreme Council members, and presidential candidates are all expressing different opinions about holding the presidential candidate debate next week.

On the 10th, Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, stated on social media (SNS), "Regarding the role of the Primary Election Preparation Committee, the Supreme Council has discussed, resolved, and announced that it includes all matters related to the primary election process except those requiring changes to the party constitution and regulations, such as whether the ratio is 5:5 or 7:3." He added, "I hope that issues without any problems are not wasted in a tug-of-war over the advantages and disadvantages of certain candidates."

He continued, "A Supreme Council member should not suddenly claim ignorance about something after saying nothing during the Supreme Council meeting when the matter was resolved," and criticized, "If someone says the Primary Election Preparation Committee should not do this, then what kind of organization do they think the committee is if it was resolved to handle primary election planning?"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, Kim Jae-won, a Supreme Council member of the People Power Party, appeared on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' and raised concerns about the presidential candidate debate scheduled for the 18th. Kim said, "It seems the Primary Election Preparation Committee is not preparing for the primary election but making candidates who have not even registered yet compete in the primary," and added, "They need to reconsider whether they are fulfilling their original role." He explained that TV debates should be held "once the Election Commission is formed and candidates are officially registered and able to compete," emphasizing, "The Primary Election Preparation Committee is preparing for the primary election, not starting it."

Later, he posted a rebuttal to Lee’s remarks on SNS.

Kim stated, "When the Supreme Council initially approved the formation of the Primary Election Preparation Committee, it was indeed resolved as a 'committee responsible for preparing the presidential primary election,'" and requested, "Since Leader Lee expressed his intention to discuss this at the Supreme Council meeting, please report and discuss the committee’s debate event scheduled for next week at the Supreme Council immediately." He further explained on SNS, "The committee’s role is to plan and prepare the primary election, but managing and conducting the primary election campaign is the role of the Election Commission according to party rules," and added, "Joint speeches are not included in primary election planning."

Presidential candidate Won Hee-ryong, Governor of Jeju Province, also raised issues regarding the roles of the Primary Election Preparation Committee and Leader Lee.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Won appeared on KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs' and criticized, "With current lawmakers entangled as they are, it is not only overstepping for the Primary Election Preparation Committee to prematurely finalize promotional plans such as how many candidates to cut off, shooting music videos, or doing reality programs, but the serious problem is that many of these ideas are coming from Leader Lee himself."

In a separate SNS post, Won said, "Leader Lee seems worried about the primary election’s excitement, but it should be left to the candidates," and added, "I hope he will devote himself to forming an election commission composed of absolutely fair people, as candidates and the public would expect."

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