Lee Jae-oh "Kim Jong-in as campaign committee again? A kingmaker only does it once... Bribery record is also a burden"

"The Kingmaker Role Is a One-Time Act... They Should Voluntarily Ease the Party's Burden"

Lee Jae-oh, Standing Advisor of the People Power Party.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Lee Jae-oh, Senior Advisor of the People Power Party, expressed his aversion to the so-called 'Kim Jong-in Campaign Committee Chief System,' stating that former emergency committee chairman Kim Jong-in should no longer take a leading role in the presidential election.

On the night of the 9th, Advisor Lee analyzed on CBS Radio's 'One Match' that there are two problems with the Kim Jong-in Campaign Committee Chief System. He said, "One is that according to the People Power Party's bylaws, the candidate holds the highest priority and full authority over party affairs, but former Chairman Kim is saying, 'Give me full authority, I will do something.'"

He continued, "The other is that presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl has focused on the war against corruption and eradication of corruption, but former Chairman Kim is precisely someone with a history of corruption and misconduct," adding, "(Kim) went to prison for bribery, so if (Candidate Yoon) says he will eradicate corruption and the Daejang-dong corruption scandal, the ruling party will say, 'How can you appoint a former bribery convict as the election management chairman? Isn't that contradictory?' and then they will be at a loss for an answer." Former Chairman Kim was previously sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison with a 4-year probation in 1993 for the Donghwa Bank slush fund case.

He then said, "Mr. Kim Jong-in is now old enough to know for himself whether his involvement in the election campaign would be helpful or not," and added, "A kingmaker only does it once, and to be a true kingmaker, you must share the political fate with the king. A kingmaker is not a technician. I hope he understands this and relieves the People Power Party's burden."

Former Chairman Kim had also played the role of a so-called 'kingmaker' during the presidential candidacies of former Presidents Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in.

Advisor Lee said, "This is not just my personal opinion," and added, "There are about six senior advisors of our generation, and when we happened to have a meal together, we shared the same thoughts. We said, 'Relieve the party's burden. Relieve the candidate's burden and the leader's burden so the election can proceed actively. If it gets blocked there, how can it work?'"

Finally, he emphasized, "Not calling him in does not mean filling the positions with old people," and said, "We can fill them with fresh, future-oriented people who meet the flow of change and the demands of the people."

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