Disagreement Within the Ruling Party Over 'Lee Jun-seok Injunction': "Mainstream Faction's Misjudgment" vs "No Room for Debate" (Summary)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] As the court decision on the injunction to suspend the effectiveness of the People Power Party's emergency committee, filed by former leader Lee Jun-seok, continues to be delayed, opinions within the party are divided on the possible outcome. Kim Ki-hyun, a member of the People Power Party and considered one of the next party leadership candidates, said he found Lee’s petition mentioning him interesting and stated there is "no room for debate" regarding the dismissal of the injunction.

On the 25th, Kim appeared on YTN Radio's 'News King with Park Ji-hoon' and said, "I found the petition interesting."

Earlier, in his petition, former leader Lee criticized figures such as Kim Ki-hyun and former floor leader Joo Ho-young, who have long adhered to a principle of inaction, saying they showed confidence that challenges the authority of the court regarding the injunction application. In response, Kim replied on social media with the phrase "a grenade with the safety pin pulled."

Regarding the content of Lee’s petition, Kim said, "Everyone sees the world according to their own perspective. It’s all about personal interpretation, so I just laughed thinking, ‘Oh, there are people like that.’ When we think logically, there are cases where going beyond a certain level is problematic." This implies that Lee’s petition was seen as exceeding reasonable limits.

Kim added, "Looking at the injunction issue itself, there is no room for debate. From my general legal common sense, there is absolutely no chance this will be accepted. When I said that, Lee called it a 'challenge to the court’s authority.'"

He continued, "If you tell the court ‘the injunction should be dismissed,’ that’s a challenge to the court’s authority, but if you demand the court accept it and grant the injunction, is that a petition? It’s a very convenient interpretation," he added.

Regarding talks within the party about holding a party convention in late January or early February, Kim said, "I have consistently said that when the party faces difficulties, it is right to normalize the party leadership as soon as possible through a party convention. It is definitely undesirable for the party to remain in an abnormal state while supporting the president’s various national governance efforts."

He also commented on the upcoming Democratic Party convention scheduled for the 28th, saying, "The Democratic Party is the absolute majority opposition with nearly 170 seats, and their leadership is a heavily armed ‘elite standing army.’ In contrast, our party is the ruling party but a minority with only 115 seats, so we are in a disadvantaged position where we cannot handle anything alone in any standing committee or plenary session. Shouldn’t our party leadership have been organized as a temporary reserve force?"

On the other hand, Ha Tae-kyung, a lawmaker classified as pro-Lee, said, "We don’t know how the injunction will turn out next week, and the party mainstream completely misjudged the injunction issue."

He said, "The party mainstream thought they would win 100%, that the injunction would be dismissed. If it was 100% dismissed, the injunction process usually takes only a day or two, so the decision should have been made last week. But not only has there been no decision, this week is almost over," suggesting the possibility of the injunction being accepted.

He added, "The longer this drags on, the more this mudslinging fight will intensify because it is a public opinion battle to win the injunction," he emphasized.

Ha said he does not believe President Yoon Seok-youl led the effort to expel former leader Lee and said the president should clarify his position on this matter. He stated, "I don’t know whether the president led this or if it was led by Yoon’s key aides. Therefore, I think the president should express his position regarding Lee’s strong claims that the president led this."

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