Kim Jae-won Responds to 'Independent Candidacy Rumors'... "Nonsense"

Denied Independent Candidacy and Jeon Gwang-hoon's New Party Rumors
Opposition Calls 5.18 Constitutional Amendment a "Political Show"

Kim Jae-won, a Supreme Council member who was disciplined with a one-year party membership suspension due to controversial remarks related to the May 18 Democratic Uprising, dismissed rumors that he might run as an independent candidate in next year's general election or join the 'Jeon Gwang-hoon New Party' as "nonsense." He criticized the Democratic Party of Korea's push for a 'one-point constitutional amendment' to enshrine the spirit of May 18 in the constitution as a "political show."

On the 23rd, Kim said on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' "Talking about a new party itself is nonsense, and talking about running as an independent with a year still left is very wrong. I have been active in our party for 20 years and have been rejected in the party nomination five times. However, I have never run as an independent," he said.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In fact, he only expressed his intention to run as an independent in the by-election for Jungnang-gu, Daegu, in January last year but later withdrew; he has never actually run as an independent.

He left open the possibility of running. He said, "I believe I have various roles to play in the general election. Of course, if the opportunity arises and I run, I will run. But in the general election, as a Supreme Council member elected with the highest votes, I will have many roles to fulfill, and those roles may exist. I will perform those roles."

Although he currently has no possibility of running due to the one-year suspension of his party membership, it can be interpreted that he intends to play a certain role in the party and wait for an opportunity. When asked by the host, "Is it correct to say that although you cannot run in principle now, you think an opportunity may come again if you wait?" he replied, "Rather than talking repeatedly about running, my role is more importantly to secure victory in the general election."

He also appeared on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' that day and denied the rumors of running. Regarding his interaction with Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon, he said, "I attended the March 1st Gwanghwamun rally because I was introduced and invited to attend, and there I was told to come to our church's service once. I promised to go, so I went to keep that promise and made some words of encouragement. Since then, there has been no interaction, and I have no intention of interacting or establishing any relationship in the future."

Kim was disciplined with a one-year party membership suspension after expressing opposition to the 'May 18 constitutional amendment' at Pastor Jeon's service. Explaining the background of his remarks, he said, "People's Power leader Kim Ki-hyun said he would enshrine the spirit of May 18 in the constitution, but Pastor Jeon strongly criticized this in front of his congregation. I responded by saying, 'Procedurally, the constitutional amendment cannot be done now, and there are people opposing it, so there is no need to worry about it,'" he explained.

He dismissed the Democratic Party of Korea's advocacy for a 'one-point constitutional amendment' to include the spirit of May 18 in the constitution as a "political show." He said, "Since the Democratic Party already holds a majority of seats in the National Assembly, if they propose it, it will go through the parliamentary approval process. But our party severely disciplined me for opposing it. So, it won't be easy to persuade our party," adding, "Therefore, the Democratic Party could lead it, but I see their proposal and actions as a political show."

Regarding Pastor Jeon's possibility of running in the general election, he drew a clear line, saying, "I neither want to be involved nor want to mention it." When political experts raised the possibility of political faction formation involving Pastor Jeon and Kim, he said, "That shows they are not experts. There are all kinds of rumors because I did not respond to the nonsense of people who do not know me. I was elected as the Supreme Council member with the highest votes in the People's Power party, and I will continue to be active accordingly. There is no need to respond to such nonsense or explain everything in detail."

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