Cho Kuk, Woo Byung-woo, and now Chu Mi-ae... 'Old Boys' Return Ahead of the General Election

Former Politicians Weighing Candidacy for the 22nd General Election
Nomination Shake-up as a Variable, Seen as Reflecting Candidate Shortages in Both Ruling and Opposition Parties

The return of 'old boys' in politics ahead of next year's general election has become a topic of interest. Following former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk and former Blue House Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Woo Byung-woo, there are rumors about former Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae running for the election. In particular, regarding Cho, there is intense debate among opposition figures about whether he will establish a 'new party.' The return of these old boys reflects the political sphere's 'shortage of figures,' but there are also considerable concerns about 'regressing with the times.'

On the 21st, former Minister Chu appeared on KBS's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs' and, when asked by the host about her candidacy, said, "Please ask me slowly," effectively leaving the possibility of running open. Regarding President Yoon Seok-yeol's administration, she evaluated it as "in a very dangerous state. In some ways, it might lose its resilience," and expressed sympathy for Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung's declaration to "give up parliamentary immunity," saying, "It really moves me to tears."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Since her defeat in the presidential election, Chu has criticized the Yoon administration only through social networking services (SNS) without any significant external activities. On the 20th, she appeared on the YouTube program 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' to criticize the Yoon government and also made a rare appearance on a terrestrial radio program that day. This is interpreted as her resuming full-scale political activities with about 300 days left until the general election.

Within the party, voices are emerging that former Minister Chu should play a role such as 'strategic nomination' in the general election. Democratic Party lawmaker Woo Sang-ho said on the YouTube program 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' the day before, "Because all party resources must be mobilized, capable and widely recognized figures must be fully deployed. However, the issue of how to allocate them to regions is a matter of strategy, and the leadership at the time of the general election should decide that. Whether someone wants to run or not is not a matter of personal preference. If the party requests it as necessary, they must comply."

Alongside former Minister Chu, former Minister Cho, a representative figure of the Moon Jae-in administration, is also rumored to be forming a 'new party.' This has sparked an unexpected truth dispute within the opposition. Former National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won predicted on the 16th on KBS's 'Joo Jin-woo Live' that Cho would run in next year's general election and would form a new party without receiving the Democratic Party's nomination. However, lawmaker Woo dismissed this as "nonsense" on CBS's 'Park Jae-hong's One-on-One Match' the day before.

Democratic Party lawmaker Jeong Seong-ho, known as a 'pro-Lee Jae-myung (Chin-myeong) faction leader,' said on CBS radio that the rumor of lawmaker Kim Nam-guk joining Cho's new party "has no possibility." On the other hand, Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Sang-min, from the non-Lee (Bi-myeong) faction, said, "He might consider running as an independent or forming a new party," expressing a high possibility of Cho establishing a new party.

The local political scene is also experiencing an 'old boy' fever. There are rumors of former Senior Secretary Woo and former Deputy Prime Minister for Economy Choi Kyung-hwan running in Daegu-Gyeongbuk (TK). Former Blue House Policy Coordination Secretary Ahn Jong-beom, known as the 'king secretary' of the Park Geun-hye administration, held a symposium yesterday to mark the first anniversary of the think tank 'Policy Evaluation Institute' he founded, drawing attention as a possible move to rally support.

In the Honam region, rumors circulate that former Director Park and former Ministers of Unification Jeong Dong-young and Justice Cheon Jeong-bae will run in the general election, while in the ruling party, former Saenuri Party leader and former Blue House spokesperson Lee Jung-hyun has begun preparing to run.

There are also critical voices regarding the news of 'old boys' returning across the political spectrum. Democratic Party lawmaker Jeon Yong-gi pointed out on YTN radio on the 19th, "What we need are people who can talk about the future, not political heavyweights to revisit discussions or such. Many citizens would say that a new era requires new figures."

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Han-gyu analyzed that the desire for 'restoration of honor' also stimulated the old boys. In an interview with CBS radio on the 15th, he said, "They probably have the desire to restore their personal honor, to be judged by the people once again, and to serve in public office again. When I meet former ministers and vice ministers, the atmosphere is 'I am competent; won't they seek me out? Might the times call for me now?'"

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