The Democratic Party fills 'Lee Jun-seok's vacant seat'... Bae Hyun-jin and Choi Chun-sik join the Emergency Negotiation Committee (Comprehensive)

Secretary-General Kim Seok-ki as Chairman... Non-affiliated members including Ham Kyung-woo and Ham In-kyung also participate
"Among 253 party chapters nationwide, 69 are accident chapters" ... 44 of these are in the Seoul and Gyeonggi metropolitan areas
"No regular party audits since 2020... Time to discuss scheduling"

Jeong Jin-seok, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, is attending the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 27th and delivering an opening remark. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Hyunju Lee and Hyunji Kwon] On the 27th, the People Power Party formed a Special Committee for Organizational Strengthening to fill 69 vacant party chapters and appointed the chairman and members of the committee on the same day. The decision on whether to commence the party affairs audit, which was expected to proceed simultaneously, was not made on this day.

Secretary-General Kim Seok-ki was appointed as the chairman of the Special Committee for Organizational Strengthening, with Lee Yang-su, Chief of Strategic Planning, and Eom Tae-young, Deputy Head of Organization, participating as ex officio members. Within the National Assembly, lawmakers Bae Hyun-jin and Choi Chun-sik joined as members, while Ham Kyung-woo, chairman of the Gwangju-si Gap party chapter in Gyeonggi Province, and lawyer Ham In-kyung participated as external members. Both Chairman Ham and lawyer Ham were active in President Yoon Seok-yeol’s election campaign.

Jung Jin-seok, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, stated at the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the same day, "Out of 253 party chapters nationwide, 69 are in a state of accident, meaning 27% of the party chapter chair positions are vacant," adding, "We cannot operate party chapters with vacant chairpersons while supporting national governance and as the ruling party." He further explained, "This is an effort to reorganize the organization for victory in the general election the year after next."

An accident party chapter refers to a chapter without a party chapter chairman or equivalent in the respective region. The Emergency Response Committee’s policy is to fill all accident party chapters to properly prepare for the party convention. The ‘Nowon Byeong’ district, where former leader Lee Jun-seok ran, is also included among the accident party chapters.

After the meeting, Secretary-General Kim Seok-ki told reporters, "We intend to proceed as quickly as possible," adding, "Leaving vacancies for a long time causes a decline in party strength, and there are many tasks to be done by each party chapter." He also said, "Among the accident party chapters, 44 are in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon," and "We will fill these with people who are well acquainted with the local circumstances."

Regarding the party affairs audit, which faced strong internal opposition, no decision has been made on whether to conduct it. Since the Special Committee for Organizational Strengthening has been formed, there is a possibility that the committee will discuss it in earnest. Secretary-General Kim said, "According to the party constitution and regulations, a regular party affairs audit is to be conducted once a year, but it has not been carried out even once since 2020," adding, "I think it is time to discuss the timing."

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