Harsh Criticism Pours on the 'Third Zone'... "No Chance of Success"

Iwonwook "No Chance of Success and No Reason to Go"
Jeong Cheongrae Calls Kim Jongin 'Teacher of This Party, That Party'
Choi Jaesung "Dislike Jjajangmyeon and Jjamppong, but Pickled Radish?"

Former Democratic Party lawmaker Geum Tae-seop, who is leading the formation of a 'third zone' new party, has revealed a roadmap for the party's establishment. However, unlike the ruling party, which views the new party's potential positively, the opposition largely voices that 'there is no chance of success.' This is because Geum is not at the level of a presidential contender and has not achieved clear success even within the Democratic Party. On the other hand, the ruling party seems to be paying relatively more attention to the influence of the new party.

Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Won-wook said on the 25th on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show' in response to a listener's question, "If former lawmaker Geum forms a new party, would you join?" that "There is no chance of success, and I have no reason to go there," firmly stating that the possibility of Democratic Party lawmakers joining is "currently nonexistent."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Former lawmaker Geum has stated that he plans to concretize the framework of the new party before Chuseok. There are about five months left, and if there is a nomination turmoil in the two major parties ahead of next year's general election, there is a possibility of gaining a windfall benefit. The goal is 30 seats in the metropolitan area.

However, Lee sees the possibility of Democratic Party lawmakers joining the third zone as low. The reason is the 'consolidation of the two-party system.' Lee said, "The two-party system is now solidified," adding, "We have tried to promote a third party several times in Korean political history, and even someone like Ahn Cheol-soo, who had significant national and popular support, failed in the end."

Choi Jae-sung, former Blue House senior secretary for political affairs and a Democratic Party member, also said on the same radio program, "To create a third party with 30 seats in the general election, there must be a presidential contender," adding, "Although former lawmaker Geum talks, claims, and imagines that it could be done, it is unclear how he plans to achieve something that even presidential-level leaders have failed at."

Choi defined former lawmaker Geum as "a politician who, in a way, failed within the existing two-party system," and evaluated the possibility of the third zone led by Geum as low. Although there was a possibility that the politically indifferent non-affiliated voters, who feel political disgust toward the two major parties, might support the third zone, Choi questioned, "You don't want to eat jajangmyeon or jjamppong, but you can't live on just pickled radish, can you?"

Democratic Party Supreme Council member Jung Cheong-rae also expressed a low opinion on KBS's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs,' saying, "It's not a new party, but a stale party," adding, "Whenever the time comes, stories arise like migratory birds flying in, such as Ahn Cheol-soo and Park Ji-won. These two had some success once, but other than that, there hasn't been much success." He referred to the third zone new party as 'this-time multi-party,' 'two-party greed party,' and called Kim Jong-in, former emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party who supports Geum, a 'this party, that party teacher.'

On the other hand, the ruling party seems to evaluate the possibility and threat of the new party relatively highly. People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo said on the 21st on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' "If such a thing (new party) happens, the party that will suffer the greatest damage is not the Democratic Party but the People Power Party," adding, "In the last presidential election, if you look at it this way, 2030s supported it, and centrist and non-affiliated voters supported it, so we barely won by 0.73%. This group is very disappointed, so if a third party is formed, they will all go there."

Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo expressed concern on the 23rd through his social media, saying, "Song Young-gil, who voluntarily left the party claiming to harm it and is facing prosecution; Lee Jae-myung, who stays in his position no matter if he harms the party or not; the ruling party leadership, who are stuck in the Jeon Gwang-hoon swamp and only care about their own survival regardless of the party's fate. At this rate, will a third zone party really be born?"

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