Yoon Seok-yeol Faces 'Last-Minute Deliberation' on Campaign Committee Appointments... Meetings with Won Hee-ryong, Na Kyung-won, and Others (Comprehensive)

Lunch with 9 First- and Second-Term Incumbent Lawmakers
First Round of Appointments Expected as Early as the 17th

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, is speaking at a luncheon with the party's first-term lawmakers held at a restaurant in Yeouido, Seoul on the afternoon of the 16th. 2021.11.16 [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Bomryeong Geum, Juni Park] Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, continued to deliberate on the formation of the campaign committee on the 16th by meeting consecutively with figures inside and outside the party. It appears that he is narrowing down the list of candidates ahead of the first announcement of the campaign committee appointments scheduled for the 17th. Yoon had a strained relationship with party leader Lee Jun-seok over the appointment of the party secretary-general, and the two plan to discuss this issue again during their second meeting on the 17th, following their first meeting on the 15th.

On the same day, Yoon held a luncheon meeting with nine incumbent lawmakers from the party, including both first-term and re-elected members, at a restaurant in Yeouido, Seoul. This was his first public schedule with incumbent lawmakers since being selected as the candidate. Attendees included lawmakers Lee Chae-ik, Park Sung-joong, Lee Man-hee, Kim Mi-ae, Kim Seon-kyo, Park Sung-min, Ahn Byung-gil, Choi Chun-sik, and Hwang Bo Seung-hee.

After the luncheon, he told reporters, "Since I have become the candidate, I wanted to have a meet-and-greet with our party lawmakers." Regarding the campaign committee appointments, he avoided a direct answer, saying, "If there were any talks about the process, that would all be lies," and added, "Normal appointments are neither discussed in advance nor do the circumstances come out."

It was reported that discussions about the campaign committee formation took place during the luncheon. Lawmaker Hwang Bo, who attended, explained, "We talked about having everyone take on a role within the campaign committee so that the central and regional teams can work together during the election campaign," and added, "It seems they plan to assign roles to incumbent lawmakers by dividing the central headquarters into departments, with positions such as committee chair or head of headquarters."

Yoon also reportedly emphasized the importance of promotion through organizational utilization and forming a one-team approach. Lawmaker Choi told reporters, "Since each of us has our own organization, the importance of organization was a major issue during the primary," and added, "It seems that organizational aspects will be heavily emphasized in the upcoming presidential election as well, and activities on social networking services (SNS) for the 2030 generation and promotion through various media will be important."

On the same day, Yoon met with former Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong for breakfast in the morning and later met former lawmaker Na Kyung-won at the party headquarters. With former emergency committee chairman Kim Jong-in likely to take the role of overall campaign committee chairman, candidates for heads of various campaign headquarters include former lawmaker Lim Tae-hee, and lawmakers Kwon Young-se, Joo Ho-young, Yoon Sang-hyun, Kim Tae-ho, Kim Yong-tae, and former lawmaker Na. Na said, "If an offer comes, since he is our party's candidate, we should all help," adding, "It's not about which position is important; we all need to help for regime change."

Regarding the meeting with former Governor Won, Yoon said, "Since we decided to run the presidential election together, we had an overall discussion, and I shared my thoughts while he said he would consider how to proceed." He also mentioned that he plans to visit former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min and People Power Party lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo soon.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to Yoon's campaign on the same day, the first appointments to the campaign committee were originally scheduled for the 20th but were moved up after discussions between party leader Lee and candidate Yoon. A key People Power Party official said, "After Lee returns from his regional schedule on the 17th, he will meet with candidate Yoon, and the first appointments will be announced in the afternoon."

For the new secretary-general position, lawmaker Kwon Seong-dong, Yoon's chief of staff, is being considered. Kwon said in a phone call, "It is true that Lee and Yoon agreed yesterday to replace the secretary-general," but regarding his own appointment, he said, "I have not been notified." However, given that Kwon has Yoon's strong trust, he is considered the most likely candidate. Yoon's spokesperson Lee Yang-su also explained, "The secretary-general is the candidate's closest aide." Although the secretary-general appointment was not finalized at the meeting on the 15th, it is highly likely that the second meeting will resolve the issue by Lee accepting Yoon's 'Kwon Seong-dong card.'

On the previous day, Lee posted a photo on Facebook of himself eating jajangmyeon with Yoon, emphasizing the 'one team' spirit by saying, "Charging toward victory," and "The silk pouch is being steadily made through our candidate's efforts." Floor leader Kim Ki-hyun also told reporters after the Supreme Council meeting that "We plan to officially launch the campaign committee within this week and expect to do so by the weekend without major issues."

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