Kim Ki-hyun Steps in to Mediate Lee Jun-seok and Yoon Seok-yeol Conflict... Preparing a Compromise Plan for the Debate

Kim Gi-hyeon Visits Lee Jun-seok on Vacation for Discussion
Debate Scheduled for 18th to Proceed as Planned

Kim Ki-hyun, floor leader of the People Power Party, is delivering opening remarks at the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 13th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] As conflicts escalated within the People Power Party over the authority of the Primary Preparation Committee and whether to hold debates, the party leadership stepped in to directly mediate. Floor leader Kim Ki-hyun visited Sangju City, Gyeongbuk, where Representative Lee Jun-seok is on vacation, to discuss ways to resolve the conflict and is also gathering opinions within the party. The party leadership has decided to proceed with the debate scheduled for the 18th but is reportedly planning to prepare a compromise regarding the format and other details.

After the floor countermeasure meeting on the 13th, Floor Leader Kim told reporters, "We reached a broad consensus (with Representative Lee) to prevent ongoing discord within the party." However, regarding the details, he said, "It is still under discussion, so it is not appropriate to disclose specifics yet," promising to reveal them soon. The party leadership is expected to finalize a compromise plan within this week and announce it before the Supreme Council meeting on the 17th.

Earlier, Representative Lee expressed support for holding debates, stating that the schedule for the presidential primary should follow the decisions of the Primary Preparation Committee. However, considering various negative opinions, he intends to change the format to something like a roundtable or debate.

Previously, claims were made that holding debates before the candidate registration date was intended to undermine some candidates who were less prepared. Additionally, there were criticisms that the authority to decide the primary schedule lies with the Supreme Council, not the Primary Preparation Committee. Regarding this, Kim Kyung-jin, External Cooperation Special Advisor to former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, expressed a critical view on MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus" program that morning, saying, "I don't understand why the Primary Preparation Committee is directly holding the primary debates," and added, "I don't know what difference it makes whether it's on August 18 or September 10, so I don't understand why the committee is pushing this excessively."

Meanwhile, the Primary Preparation Committee held a meeting at the National Assembly that morning to summarize the matters discussed so far. Committee Chair Seo Byung-soo explained in a phone call that day, "I don't understand why the debate has become such a controversy," and added, "There were many requests from candidates who want to raise their recognition through a pre-primary debate, so we proceeded with it."

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