Yoon Seok-yeol's Campaign Committee Finalizing Members... Kim Han-gil Likely to Join

Afternoon Meeting with Lee Jun-seok, Finalizing the Composition Plan Steps

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, is intensively working on the final composition of the election campaign committee. The campaign committee is expected to launch as early as the 18th or by the 20th at the latest, and on the afternoon of the 17th, Candidate Yoon plans to meet with Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the People Power Party, to coordinate opinions once again.

According to political circles, Candidate Yoon is preparing a plan to form the National Unity Committee and the Future Vision Committee separately from the campaign committee. It is known that former Saenuri Democratic Union leader Kim Han-gil is being considered as the chairperson of the National Unity Committee. Im Jae-hoon, a former lawmaker known as part of the ‘Kim Han-gil faction,’ said in a phone interview with this paper on the same day, "It is true that Kim, the former leader, was recently offered the position of chairperson of the National Unity Committee, and the leader said he is currently considering it," adding, "I advised Kim to accept it as it is a significant authority." Regarding this, Kwon Young-se, a lawmaker of the People Power Party, said on the radio, "I understand that former leader Kim has continuously interacted with Candidate Yoon during the primary process," and added, "If he joins our party’s campaign committee, I think it will greatly help in expanding the moderate base."

The overall organizational structure is being narrowed down to a system with a general campaign committee chairperson overseeing standing campaign committee chairpersons and co-chairpersons. Former emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, Kim Jong-in, is a strong candidate for the general campaign committee chairperson, with party leader Lee Jun-seok expected to serve as an ex officio standing campaign committee chairperson, and former lawmaker Na Kyung-won being considered as a co-chairperson. Former Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong has also received an offer to join Candidate Yoon’s team. Various roles such as chairperson of the Future Vision Committee or standing campaign committee chairperson are being discussed for former Liberty Korea Party emergency committee chairman Kim Byung-joon, who was initially reported to be joining.

It is also reported that the central headquarters will be divided by divisions, with heads appointed to each organization, and current party lawmakers will be assigned accordingly. The day before, Candidate Yoon met with first- and second-term lawmakers to encourage their participation in the campaign committee. According to lawmakers who attended the luncheon that day, Candidate Yoon emphasized the regional ‘organizations’ each lawmaker holds and conveyed that he intends to assign roles that cover both central and regional responsibilities.

In an interview with a media outlet on the same day, Candidate Yoon said, "I am contacting the party leader, elders, senior members, and those who have previously served as emergency committee chairpersons to gather consensus," adding, "There is no internal conflict or anything like that." Regarding former primary competitors Hong Joon-pyo, a People Power Party lawmaker, and former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min, he said, "They have not answered my calls yet," and "Even if it takes time, I believe we will eventually become one team."

If Candidate Yoon finalizes the composition plan soon, contact with former committee chairman Kim Jong-in is expected. Kim, who is designated as the general campaign committee chairperson, said in an interview on the same day, "Since Candidate Yoon has experienced all kinds of hardships during his career as a prosecutor, I believe he will not make decisions about people or various judgments thoughtlessly or simply," reiterating his intention to review the candidate’s plan before making a judgment.

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