Kwon Seong-dong Takes Control of Party Leadership "Reorganized in 3 Days of Crisis"... Lee Jun-seok's Innovation Plans Halted One After Another

Final Authority for Forming Jogang Special Committee and Party Secretariat Personnel Rights Taken
Temporary Suspension of Party Member Education System and Debate Battle League Promotion
Innovation Committee Also Distances Itself from Lee Representative Amid Spokesperson Resignation Debate

Kwon Seong-dong, Acting Party Leader and Floor Leader of the People Power Party, is attending the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 12th and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Hyunju Lee and Boryeong Geum] Kwon Seong-dong, acting leader of the People Power Party and floor leader, stated, "We reorganized the party within three days during the crisis." He self-assessed that he quickly stabilized the party situation after emerging as the de facto single authority within the party early in the administration. As more weight shifts to Floor Leader Kwon, the policies that Representative Lee Jun-seok had been pushing are facing a series of setbacks. Depending on whether Representative Lee continues his remaining term under the acting leadership system or voluntarily resigns midway, the related policies are expected to meet different final fates.

According to the People Power Party on the 12th, there is close attention within the party to the fact that Floor Leader Kwon holds the final authority to form the Special Committee for Organizational Strengthening (Jo-gang Special Committee). The party is currently accepting applications for organizational chairpersons in 47 electoral districts nationwide. Organizational chairpersons are appointed after review by the Jo-gang Special Committee and approval by the Supreme Council, and once appointed, they are elected as party branch chairpersons after approval by the respective electoral district operation committee. Since becoming a party branch chairperson places one in a favorable position for nomination, competition is fierce. The personnel authority of the party secretariat is also one of the powers held by Floor Leader Kwon.

On the other hand, the ‘Party Member Education System’ and ‘Debate Battle League’ initiatives that Representative Lee had been promoting have been temporarily suspended. A People Power Party official said, "At the working level, we have instructed to halt for now," adding, "We need to observe the situation going forward."

Representative Lee had been planning to build a new central party training center to educate the increasing number of party members, mainly from the 2030 generation. In the past, during the Hannara Party era, then-party leader Park Geun-hye donated the training center, which was the top asset, to the state as an apology for the illegal election funds received by the Hannara Party.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Representative Lee, who selected spokespersons through public debates, had also planned to hold weekly ‘Debate Battles’ in a league format, but this too has become difficult to proceed. Among some hardline supporters, there are even voices calling for the resignation of all spokespersons selected through ‘I am the National Representative’.

The Innovation Committee, launched after the local elections, has also distanced itself from Representative Lee. Representative Choi Jae-hyung, who chairs the Innovation Committee, said in a phone interview that "This is an officially resolved body of the party and is unrelated to Representative Lee’s position," adding, "We will finalize the procedures and schedule for collecting opinions inside and outside the party at today’s meeting." When asked if discussions about nominations would also take place, Representative Choi said, "Nomination is one of the most important functions of a political party, so we will also look at the nomination function," but added, "We will first discuss how and from whom to collect opinions through public hearings." Vice Chairman Cho Hae-jin also said, "After the opinion collection process, we will begin the work of concretely formulating innovation plans by subcommittees." Floor Leader Kwon is expected to attend the full Innovation Committee meeting that day.

With Floor Leader Kwon also taking control of party leadership, criticism toward the opposition party is expected to intensify. At the floor countermeasure meeting that day, Floor Leader Kwon sharply criticized, "The People Power Party resolved the acting leadership system the day before," and said, "The Democratic Party of Korea, even after seeing this, talks about delay tactics and uses people’s livelihoods as a weapon to attack the opposition." He also expressed concerns about the livelihood crisis. After the meeting, he told reporters, "By gathering the consensus of the lawmakers, the party will support the Yoon Seok-youl administration and do its utmost to address the difficulties faced by the people and solve livelihood issues."

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