Na Kyung-won: "I will start considering 'party leadership bid' now... Always ready to move"

Former floor leader of the Liberty Korea Party (now People Power Party), Na Kyung-won, is delivering a congratulatory speech at the People Power Party Seoul Metropolitan Party's June 1 local election winners' meeting and workshop held at the National Assembly on the 9th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] As the transition to an emergency response committee system accelerates competition among ruling party leadership candidates, former four-term lawmaker Na Kyung-won has officially declared her bid for party leadership.

On the morning of the 10th, Na appeared on YTN Radio's "News King Park Ji-hoon" and, when asked about her intention to run for party leadership, said, "Honestly, I hadn't actively considered it until now. But from now on, I plan to think about it." Na previously secured 37.1% of the vote in the party convention held last June, finishing second behind Representative Lee Jun-seok, who received 43.8%.

Leading candidates for the next party leadership, Representatives Ahn Cheol-soo and Kim Ki-hyun, have already begun warming up. Ahn officially declared his candidacy while rallying support through four debate sessions held until the day before, and Kim is also attempting to expand his base through study groups and other means.

Regarding this, Na said, "The public and party members know that person's political history and career better," adding, "Aren't politicians always warming up?" This appears to express her determination not to fall behind in the leadership race.

She also holds a positive stance toward the party's internal calls for an 'early party convention.' Na said, "It seems some people want to hold it quickly, avoiding the National Assembly audit period (late September to mid-October), but I think it could be done in between as well." Meanwhile, Joo Ho-young, the chairman leading the emergency committee, has stated that an early convention is difficult.

On the cause of President Yoon Seok-youl's early administration approval rating decline, she analyzed, "One of the biggest reasons was the power struggles within the party that should have strongly supported the administration," adding, "As the saying goes, personnel is everything in government, but it was quite a 'disastrous matter'."

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