Upon hearing "Usangho Leadership Will Be Summoned Again"... Usangho Says, "That Won't Happen. Don't Worry"

Woo Sang-ho Interim Chairman Farewell Press Conference
"No Nomination Massacre... Democratic Party Should Not Be Seen Too Much as Factional"
"Yoon Seok-yeol Must Create a Cooperation Model with the Opposition Within 2 Years"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

"There is discussion within the party that Woo Sang-ho's leadership will be called upon again someday."
(Shin Hyun-young, Democratic Party Spokesperson)

"The idea that I will be called upon again means the party is facing another crisis, but that will not be the case. There is no need to worry." (Woo Sang-ho, Democratic Party Emergency Response Committee Chairman)

[Asia Economy, Reporter Naju-seok] This is a conversation mentioned at the end of the press conference held by Woo Sang-ho, Chairman of the Democratic Party Emergency Response Committee, on the 26th. Woo, who will step down from his position as Emergency Response Committee Chairman when a new party leader is elected at the party convention on the 28th, shared his reflections on the short two-month tenure of the emergency committee and his thoughts on the Democratic Party and politics in general through what was essentially a farewell press conference.

He said, "When I first became the Emergency Response Committee Chairman and looked back at the party's situation, it was truly bleak. Many lawmakers were struggling after losing elections and publicly expressed near-hatred toward those who thought differently from themselves, which was difficult. Fortunately, meeting many lawmakers through study sessions and workshops to quickly stabilize the party internally was the first rewarding achievement."

Regarding the formation of the new leadership, Woo said that the Democratic Party already has a system for candidate nominations, so there will be no purging through nominations. He stated, "Looking at the Democratic Party, there has never been a case where a specific faction was systematically purged through the nomination process." He added that although the new leadership can make nominations, since a new leadership will take office after the election, "intervention in purging through nominations is impossible." He also noted, "If you look closely at the number of lawmakers belonging to factions, out of 169 lawmakers, about 60 can be considered to belong to some specific network. That means about 100 are in a neutral zone, so I hope people do not view the Democratic Party too much through the lens of factions."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding the new leadership, he said, "In any party, there are mainstream groups that hold party power and those who do not. The problem is that the relationship between these forces should not reach a level of hostility." Woo emphasized, "Among groups with differing views, various opinions should be expressed and these views should be carefully listened to by both mainstream and non-mainstream factions." He added, "Whichever person becomes the next party leader, once they become the mainstream of the mainstream group, communication with the non-mainstream must be the top priority," and "If small differences in opinion lead to misunderstandings, serious emotional conflicts can follow, so various communication methods will be used to achieve party unity."

Regarding the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, he said, "The leader of the main opposition party has taken office, but I have never received a single phone call from the president or Yoon's key aides (Yoon Hae-gwan). There is no basic intention to cooperate with the opposition party, so how can there be cooperation or collaboration? This also needs to change." He urged, "Within this government, a model of cooperation must be created over the next two years, and careful consideration should be given to strategies for engaging with the opposition."

He said, "The Yoon Seok-yeol administration must change its current national policy direction. Only then can it succeed. A few populist stunts will never work." He added, "The economic crisis has not yet arrived. It will be difficult to achieve good results if they simply differentiate themselves from the previous administration."

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