Kim Jaewon: "Lee Junseok Expresses His Opinions More Than Harmony... We Need to Bring in Elders Who Can Scold the Party"

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party (left), is conversing with Kim Jae-won, Supreme Council member, at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 17th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Soyoung] Kim Jaewon, a Supreme Council member of the People Power Party, lamented, "During recent Supreme Council meetings, I felt too strongly that there are no elders in the party, no one to mediate."

On the 19th, Kim said on KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyungyoung's Strongest Current Affairs,' "Until recently, we believed that we had to win the presidential election without Chairman Kim Jongin to become a young party," adding, "But now, I think it would be much better to bring in an elder and have them sit down and even scold us."

However, when asked by the host whether there was talk of former Emergency Committee Chairman Kim Jongin serving as the election commissioner, he drew a line, saying, "That's the first time I'm hearing about it."

He said, "The very emergence of Representative Lee Junseok symbolizes that our party has become younger and needs to become even younger in the future. In that sense, there was definitely a desire to run this presidential election without Kim Jongin's help, but recently my thoughts have changed a lot. The People Power Party must win the presidential election to become a young party."

He continued, "If I had such thoughts, it means our party is somewhat disorganized, which is regrettable and distressing."

He then pointed out, "Rather than Representative Lee managing conflicts well and fostering harmony, he tends to express his opinions more, which is different from past representatives," adding, "While Lee plays a good role in communicating closely with the younger generation, his markedly different behavior compared to past party leaders has created an awkward situation."

He also sharpened his tone again, saying, "In the past, it was rare to see the party leader cause significant disputes, argue, or fight with the party's presidential candidates."

Kim said, "I think there are aspects we need to understand, embrace, and support as generational differences, but so far, because the situation is different from past leaders, conflicts have expanded and the frontlines have clearly widened."

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