Park Ji-won: "Pro-approval faction should leave the party on their own... No expulsion"

"Ruling Party's Kwon Young-se Emergency Committee if Defeated in Gangseo-gu Mayor Election"

Ahead of the return of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, there is growing public opinion within the party to expel those who voted in favor of his arrest motion. However, Park Ji-won, a senior figure in the party and former head of the National Intelligence Service, opposed the expulsion of the pro-approval faction, saying, "We should unite, not purge or expel."

On the 5th, on MBC's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus,' former NIS chief Park said, "Let's follow Kim Dae-jung's politics, moving forward with communication, coordination, and integration, not division."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding those who voted in favor, he said, "Those who voted yes out of shortsightedness are truly people without conscience," and added, "those who continue to talk nonsense afterward should leave the party on their own," but he opposed any expulsion efforts.

He argued that they will be filtered out in the upcoming general election nominations anyway. He said, "Rather than purging or expelling, there is a nomination process in the next 4 to 5 months," adding, "In the Democratic Party, nominations are decided 50% by party members and 50% by the public. Let's leave it to the party members and the public. If they think someone is wrong, they will weed them out."

He also said that disciplinary actions against the pro-approval faction should be left to the Ethics Tribunal. Former NIS chief Park said, "The Ethics Tribunal is an independent body and should not be interfered with, so it is the attitude of party members to leave the decision to them," adding, "There should be no interference there."

Regarding the Gangseo District Office election, he said, "It has become a battle between President Yoon Seok-youl and Leader Lee," and predicted, "If Jin Gyo-hoon, the Democratic Party candidate, wins and the People Power Party loses in Gangseo District, Leader Kim Ki-hyun will be out, and the party will move to a caretaker system."

Former leader Lee Jun-seok predicted that if the People Power Party loses in this Gangseo District Office election, a 'Won Hee-ryong caretaker' system would be established. However, former NIS chief Park said, "Still, former Minister of Unification Kwon Young-se might be possible," and added, "I don't think Won Hee-ryong would be the caretaker leader."

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