Cheon Ha-ram: "If Kim Tae-woo is nominated, the ruling party will collapse... Emphasizing rule of law does not align with Yoon administration"

"'Unfair Whistleblower' Claim Is the Ruling Party's View"
"If a Candidate Is Nominated and Suffers a Crushing Defeat, the Current Leadership Will Collapse"

Cheon Haram, the People Power Party's Jeonnam Suncheon-gap district party committee chairman, expressed that it is "inappropriate" for former Gangseo District Mayor Kim Tae-woo, who was convicted of leaking official secrets but was reinstated through a special pardon on Liberation Day, to show his intention to run in the upcoming October by-election.

In an interview on the 16th with CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' Chairman Cheon pointed out that the claim that "former Mayor Kim is a wronged whistleblower" is "our (ruling party's) view" and asked, "Would the Democratic Party agree with that?"

He said, "When our thoughts differ from others', the institution that makes the final social decision is the judiciary," adding, "The Supreme Court has issued a final ruling, and not respecting that does not align with the attitude of a conservative party that always emphasizes the rule of law, nor with the attitude of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration."

Cheon Haram, Chairman of the People Power Party Jeonnam Suncheon Gap District Committee.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

He continued, "Conversely, if the Moon Jae-in administration or the Democratic Party camp had pardoned someone like a hero from their own party three months after the Supreme Court's final ruling, would we have remained silent?" He added, "We would have criticized them for ignoring the judiciary and not respecting the ruling even after it was issued."

Chairman Cheon warned that the People Power Party should not field former Mayor Kim in the Gangseo District mayoral by-election scheduled for October, saying, "If they do, they will really fail."

He expressed concern that "the Gangseo District mayor will become a gauge that accurately reflects the metropolitan area voter sentiment going forward, and if they nominate former Mayor Kim as a candidate, they could face criticism such as 'Are they nominating someone responsible for the by-election again?'" He further speculated that if former Mayor Kim runs in the by-election and suffers a crushing defeat, the current People Power Party leadership would not be able to hold on.

Chairman Cheon analyzed that the pardon of former Mayor Kim might have been intended with next year's general election in mind rather than the by-election. He said, "If they don't field him in the mayoral by-election, people might overlook it thinking 'At least they didn't field him in the mayoral by-election' and then plan to run him in the next general election," adding, "Since they didn't field him in the by-election, they have done their duty to some extent, and if he runs in the general election, the controversy will be somewhat less."

However, he added, "I originally think the pardon was inappropriate, so I don't view (his running in the general election) very favorably either," and said, "If there is a primary, there is no way to stop it, but I think a strategic nomination would be inappropriate."

Meanwhile, former Mayor Kim, a former prosecutor investigator who served as a special inspection team member in the Blue House's Civil Affairs Office under the Moon Jae-in administration, was prosecuted for leaking official secrets after exposing allegations related to the special inspection team in 2018. In May, the Supreme Court confirmed a sentence of one year in prison with a two-year probation, resulting in the loss of his mayoral position. However, he was recently reinstated through a special pardon on Liberation Day and regained his eligibility to run for office.

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