Woo Sang-ho "There Are Even More Old-Fashioned Than 586... It's Inappropriate for Everyone to Step Down"

"Step down as a whole generation? Lacks consistency"
"There are views suspecting political motives"

Woo Sang-ho, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker. / Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Joo-hee] Woo Sang-ho, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, opposed the '586 (people in their 50s, university entrants in the 1980s, born in the 1960s) retirement theory' raised by Park Ji-hyun, co-chair of the Emergency Response Committee, saying, "It is illogical and unreasonable to ask an entire generation to step down all at once."

In an interview with MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' on the 27th, Woo said, "It is a natural self-purification function of the political world to evaluate individual politicians and filter out those with problems," but added, "Has any generation ever been completely removed in Korean politics? Which country in the world does that? It is simply impossible."

He said, "Many candidates from this generation ran in the June 1 local elections. The Emergency Response Committee cannot endorse them and then ask them to step down. How would they conduct the election?" He added, "If you specifically point out politicians who are inappropriate for party reform after the election, then we can discuss it. It is inappropriate during the election."

Woo agreed with the intention behind Park's demand for the 586 generation's retirement. However, he said, "For example, it is ridiculous to say that generations older than the 586 generation are fine, but only the 586 generation should step down. If the reason is that they have been in politics for a long time and are older, then logically, those older than us should step down first." He continued, "The 586 generation received attention and high expectations within the Democratic Party, but the disappointment was great. I think a full discussion on this issue is necessary after the election. However, using terms like 'step down because of your generation' is inappropriate. As a result, it caused discord," he criticized again.

He added, "Why are the older conservatives left alone? That’s why I suspect there is a political motive. If this keeps turning into controversy, it will become a very bad debate. When asked why the entire generation should step down, no one gave an answer."

Earlier, on the 25th, Park Ji-hyun emphasized the need for generational change at the campaign committee meeting, saying, "To regain the trust of the people, we need to discuss the retirement of 586 politicians. We must prepare for a graceful exit." However, party leaders including co-chair Yoon Ho-jung and floor leader Park Hong-geun strongly opposed this, leading to internal conflict. The two co-chairs are reportedly in discussions on the 27th to resolve the party's internal strife.

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