Kim Jaewon "There is a misunderstanding with Lee Junseok... 'Nomination penalty controversy' likely to be concluded by the Nomination Committee"

Kang Ki-jung "The party leader catching candidates who applied for nomination like catching mice... That is wrong"

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, and Kim Jae-won, Supreme Council member. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kang Woo-seok] Kim Jae-won, Supreme Council Member of the People Power Party, recently commented on the 'Nomination Penalty Truth Dispute' with Representative Lee Jun-seok, saying, "There was a bit of a misunderstanding," and "This issue will soon be concluded according to the decision of the Nomination Management Committee."

On the 24th, Kim appeared on KBS Radio's 'Joo Jin-woo Live' and stated, "It is true that Representative Lee Jun-seok distributed meeting materials and held the meeting, and the meeting materials included a deduction, meaning the penalty was quite severe. However, I argued that it was a bit too much and suggested lowering it by 10%. But the media kept writing articles saying that Representative Lee insisted on up to 35%, which was different from my intention," he explained.

Regarding Lee's remark, "If you keep clinging to the party leader, I will cause you even more harm," Kim responded, "Looking at the following statement, it was not about me but about everyone," adding, "I was relieved because it wasn't just about me."

Kim further explained, "I fully understand that Representative Lee Jun-seok might feel a bit uncomfortable because of me. What I said was that Representative Lee convened the meeting, distributed all the meeting materials, and the meeting was held based on those materials, which contained certain contents. Lee opposed those contents, and that was my position. However, because it was reported as if Lee insisted on what was written in the meeting materials, he felt a bit upset," he elaborated.

Former Blue House Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Kang Ki-jung, who appeared on the broadcast that day, commented on the dispute, saying, "When the nomination period comes, the party leader who holds the nomination rights almost catches candidates like catching rats," and "I think that is wrong."

He continued, "Even if there is a misunderstanding about what Supreme Council Member Kim Jae-won said, Representative Lee should support and protect the candidates instead of constantly drawing a knife and threatening as if about to strike their necks. That is very bureaucratic," and criticized, "From what I see, Representative Lee habitually does that for fun."

Meanwhile, the People Power Party's newly introduced 'Local Election Nomination Penalty' includes a 10% deduction for incumbent lawmakers running for re-election and a 15% deduction for those who have left the party and run as independents. Controversy arose as Representative Hong Joon-pyo, who falls under both categories, opposed this.

Representative Lee opposed both deduction proposals but said he was outvoted. Meanwhile, Supreme Council Member Kim claimed that the meeting materials were created under Lee's direction, leading to a truth dispute between the two.

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