Yoon Fails to Secure Kim's Firm Acceptance as 'General Election Committee Chair' Despite Dinner Persuasion (Comprehensive)

Yoon Seok-yeol "Kim Jong-in to Take More Time as General Election Committee Chair"
Kim Jong-in "No Definitive Decision Made"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Naju-seok and Park Joon-yi] Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, and Kim Jong-in, former emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, held a meeting to discuss the formation of the presidential campaign committee, but they failed to reach a clear conclusion regarding Kim's joining the campaign committee. Candidate Yoon plans to announce personnel at the headquarters level while leaving the position of the overall campaign committee chairman vacant for now.

On the 24th, Candidate Yoon met with former Chairman Kim and Kwon Seong-dong, secretary general of the People Power Party, at a restaurant in downtown Seoul. After the dinner meeting, Yoon said, "(Former Chairman Kim) said he would help," but added, "He said he needs more time regarding taking the position of overall campaign committee chairman."

Yoon stated, "(Former Chairman Kim) seemed to say he needs a little more time," and added, "It is difficult for me to speak about this concretely and publicly."

Earlier, former Chairman Kim, who arrived first, said, "There can be no special outcome, and I told the candidate that I must maintain my current position." He continued, "It is not because I have any special disagreement with the candidate, but I said that if there is noise within the campaign committee, it cannot work. We must start well from the beginning; if unnecessary noise arises midway and various stories come out, it could decisively affect the election. Therefore, I suggested properly organizing things in advance and starting right."

Regarding acceptance of the overall campaign committee chairman position, former Chairman Kim said, "I did not make any definitive statements."

Previously, Candidate Yoon pushed for a campaign committee lineup centered on appointing former Chairman Kim as the overall campaign committee chairman. However, issues arose regarding appointments such as Kim Byung-joon as standing overall campaign committee chairman and Kim Han-gil as chairman of the New Era Preparation Committee, leading to turbulence. On this day as well, Secretary General Kwon and Kim Jae-won, a supreme council member of the People Power Party, visited former Chairman Kim's office to persuade him.

Candidate Yoon is expected to proceed with appointments at the headquarters level on the 25th without achieving the outcome of former Chairman Kim joining the campaign committee. Yoon said, "I think we need to announce the overall headquarters chief at tomorrow's supreme council meeting."

According to reports, the following appointments have been made: Representative Joo Ho-young as head of the campaign organization headquarters, former Representative Kim Sung-tae as head of the functional headquarters, former Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong as head of the policy headquarters, People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok as head of the public relations and media headquarters, Secretary General Kwon as head of the party affairs support headquarters, and Representative Kwon Young-se as head of the overall special advisory group.

Candidate Yoon's side reportedly proposed a compromise to persuade former Chairman Kim by maintaining Kim Byung-joon's position as standing overall campaign committee chairman but abolishing the candidate's secretariat. This was to establish a campaign committee system centered on the overall campaign committee chairman so that former Chairman Kim could operate in a coordinated manner throughout the campaign. However, it seems that key issues between both sides remain unresolved.

Former Chairman Kim, who had mentioned a "return to normal life," also referred to the need for prior organization of the campaign committee, which can be interpreted as leaving the possibility open for his participation. However, since he has not given a definite answer at this stage, only a basic campaign committee organization has been formed, leaving the command post vacant, resulting in a campaign committee structured in a "open-door departure" (開門發車) style.

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