Before Local Elections, 'Lee Jun-seok's Reform' Restarted... "No Sharing of Stakes Allowed"

People Power Party Holds Metropolitan and Provincial Party Chairpersons Meeting on the Morning of the 15th
Representative Lee Jun-seok Attends Online Due to COVID-19 Diagnosis

Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the People Power Party, is delivering opening remarks via video conference at the meeting of provincial party chairpersons held at the National Assembly on the 15th. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kum Boryeong] Ahead of the upcoming June 1 local elections, the leadership of the People Power Party has begun efforts to enforce party discipline. It appears they are once again focusing on the 'Lee Jun-seok-style reform,' including eradicating the corruption issues that have frequently surfaced.

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party (pictured), held an online meeting with city and provincial party chairpersons at 11 a.m. on the 15th. He judged that establishing discipline for victory in the local elections, which are less than three months away, is more important than continuing the momentum from the presidential election victory.

Lee particularly emphasized the need to eradicate 'corruption.' Since elections require funding, there is a risk of controversy arising from opaque candidate selection processes in some regions that have not received much attention from the party. To cut off the possibility of 'money-based nominations' in this local election, Lee plans to impose the highest level of disciplinary action immediately upon detection of any demands for money or valuables.

In his opening remarks that day, Lee said, "The Yoon Seok-yeol administration's personnel philosophy operates on the principle of activity regardless of gender, age, or background if one is competent, so the party must also support this. It would be better for the public if outdated practices like dividing shares are not seen."

This is interpreted as a restart of Lee's 'reform drive.' Lee has advocated for a major reform of candidate selection, including introducing the Public Official Candidate Basic Qualification Test (PPAT) for the local elections. This signifies an effort to renew the People Power Party by achieving fairness and equity. A People Power Party official said, "We highly evaluate this as part of political reform," adding, "Especially, it is expected to have a positive influence on the younger generation, who value fairness."

The meeting also included content about thoroughly reorganizing the nationwide structure. After the People Power Party’s predecessor, the Liberty Korea Party, suffered consecutive defeats to the Democratic Party in the 2017 presidential election and the 2018 local elections, regional organizations have tended to scatter significantly over the past five years. Although organizational strength somewhat recovered ahead of the March 9 presidential election, there are still internal remarks that the party cannot keep up with the Democratic Party’s dense organizational network.

The party leadership also showed determination to minimize vote splitting caused by those who fail to receive nominations running as independents. Secretary-General Han Ki-ho emphasized in a phone interview with Asia Economy, "In local elections, candidates often run as independents and cause fragmentation, so we must be cautious and prepared for that."

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