"Yoon's Heart and Capturing Home Rabbits"... Ruling Party Leadership Candidates Head to TK Together

Kim Ki-hyun, Kwon Seong-dong, Ahn Cheol-soo Attend Presidential New Year Meeting
Yoo Seung-min Raises Voice Criticizing Yoon Seok-yeol, Differentiates Himself

[Asia Economy Reporter Geum Bo-ryeong] On the 2nd, the next People Power Party (PPP) leadership candidates focused all their efforts on visiting Daegu-Gyeongbuk, the party's core support base, along with 'Yunsim' (尹心), to secure their 'home turf'.

At the '2023 New Year's Greeting Meeting' held on the morning of the 2nd at the Blue House State Guest House, hosted by the Presidential Office, not only the PPP leadership but also many leadership candidates attended.

Among them were Representative Kim Ki-hyun, who was the first to declare his candidacy for party leader within the National Assembly, original 'Yunhaekgwan' (key associates of President Yoon Seok-yeol) Representative Kwon Seong-dong, Representatives Ahn Cheol-soo and Yoon Sang-hyun, and former Representative Na Kyung-won, who ranks first in party member voting. Notably, Representatives Kwon and Kim sat at a table near President Yoon.

President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife, Speaker of the National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Kim Myung-soo, and other attendees are saluting the national flag at the '2023 New Year's Greeting Ceremony' held at the Blue House State Guest House on the 2nd. (Photo by Yonhap News)

The full turnout of these leadership candidates at the New Year's meeting is interpreted as a move to capture the so-called 'Yunsim', the President's intention. Since the party convention is held less than a year after President Yoon took office and there is no clear frontrunner, it is believed that party members' votes may concentrate on the candidate endorsed by the President.

A People Power Party official explained, "Since it is still early in the administration, the President's decision is expected to be important in the party convention," adding, "Because the new party leader will influence next year's general election, lawmakers will likely consider which leadership candidate to support based on the President's decision."

Most of the next leadership candidates are also expected to attend the '2023 People Power Party Daegu-Gyeongbuk New Year's Greeting' held at the Daegu City Party Headquarters in the afternoon. Daegu is known as the 'heart of conservatism' due to its high proportion of responsible party members for the People Power Party. Since this party convention is conducted with 100% party member voting, the direction of the TK (Daegu-Gyeongbuk) party sentiment is considered crucial.

Yoo Seung-min: "The party collapsed after being filled with 100% yes-men"

Representatives Kwon Seong-dong, Yoon Sang-hyun, and Ahn Cheol-soo confirmed their Daegu schedules early. Former Representative Na Kyung-won is also expected to attend. However, Representative Kim Ki-hyun will not attend due to scheduled appearances on broadcasts. Representative Cho Kyung-tae, who serves as the Busan City Party Chairman, will head to the Busan New Year's Greeting Meeting.

On the other hand, former Representative Yoo Seung-min, considered a leading candidate in various polls, did not attend the President's New Year's Greeting Meeting and instead raised critical voices against President Yoon. As a leading figure of the 'anti-Yoon' camp, Yoo stated on YTN Radio's 'News King Park Ji-hoon' program, "I always think there are two problems. One is that the President becoming a dictator and turning the presidency into his private domain is really bad," adding, "That does not lead to the success of the administration."

He argued that the tension between President Yoon and himself could further develop the party. Yoo said, "In the past, when the President said a word, no one dared to speak up, and even if the President was wrong, the party was filled with 100% yes-men who said 'You are right'?this experience of the party collapsing is not just once or twice," emphasizing, "Considering the conservative support President Yoon receives, the party leader who can best complement and add to that is, I believe, no one but me."

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