'Opposition Unification' Won Hee-ryong... Lee Jun-seok Says "Unification Because Situation Improved Is Very Inappropriate"

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at a youth talk concert held in front of Lotte Department Store in Nam-gu, Ulsan City on the afternoon of the 5th.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, stated regarding the discussion of presidential candidate unification mentioned within the party, "It seems very inappropriate for an individual to make such remarks for political interests just because the recent situation has improved."

After the party's victory resolution meeting in Seodaemun-eul, Seoul, on the 6th, Lee told reporters, "I am very concerned that some among those who are trying to support candidates are stoking the fire for political purposes."

He added, "Currently, candidate Yoon Seok-yeol, myself, and Kwon Young-se, head of the election campaign headquarters, have no disagreements on this matter (unification). It is about discussing election strategy carefully."

This is interpreted as a direct rebuttal to remarks about unification made by Won Hee-ryong, head of the policy headquarters.

Earlier, Won stated in an interview with Yonhap News Agency on the same day, "To win a razor-thin presidential election, we must unify with Ahn Cheol-soo, the candidate of the People’s Party," adding, "The time has come."

Won argued, "If each registers as a candidate first and then tries to unify, it becomes more difficult. We need to proceed with an easy unification that reassures the public."

In response, Kwon Young-se, head of the People Power Party’s election campaign headquarters, dismissed the claim, saying, "The People Power Party’s campaign headquarters has never mentioned candidate unification nor discussed any future plans regarding it."

In an official statement released that day, Kwon said, "The interview content within the campaign headquarters suggesting that it is time to start unification discussions is merely a personal opinion and has nothing to do with the campaign headquarters’ position."

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