Oh Shin-hwan "Regret over Lee Jun-seok and Hong Joon-pyo's backlash... Large-scale pardon is a message to take the path of unity"

The People Power Party Innovation Committee's first innovation proposal, 'cancellation of disciplinary action (general amnesty),' has faced backlash from the involved parties, former leader Lee Jun-seok and Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo. In response, Oh Shin-hwan, a member of the Innovation Committee, described the committee's general amnesty plan as a message of unity, expressing that it is "regrettable" that they opposed it.

On the 3rd, Oh said on MBC's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' program, "Since they have not accepted their disciplinary actions so far, I can somewhat understand their resistance," explaining his stance.

Oh Shin-hwan, People Power Party Seoul mayoral primary candidate. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

The previous day, the People Power Party's Supreme Council, following the Innovation Committee's proposal, decided to cancel the suspension of party membership for former leader Lee and Mayor Hong. However, Mayor Hong expressed outrage, calling it a "Gwahajiyok (跨下之辱, humiliation of crawling under the crotch)," and former leader Lee responded coldly, saying, "I have nothing to say."

Regarding this, Oh said, "Chairman In Yo-han mentioned the discomfort caused by the impression that the party is showing leniency or charity, and I accept that it can be that way," adding, "But since this sends a message to the public, we expressed it in that way."

He continued, "The party's proactive decision to grant a general amnesty for party unity can be seen as the starting point," and said, "Chairman In has said he will make further efforts through various channels, so if the party truly transforms and innovates, perhaps former leader Lee's heart will soften through that changed image."

The cancellation of disciplinary actions is not targeted at specific individuals but is a message of 'unity.' Oh stated, "Our Innovation Committee did not discuss or mention any specific individuals when handling the general amnesty agenda," adding, "Beyond simply canceling disciplinary actions, this is a big message that the entire party, including those who were previously not allowed to return, is now moving toward unity."

People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo protested the party's decision, asking if canceling the disciplinary actions would also restore former leader Lee's leadership position. In response, Oh said, "This is a misunderstanding," explaining, "The amnesty to restore party membership was mentioned in the context of great unity, and it does not mean restoring the past leadership position or denying the disciplinary actions taken before, nor does it mean treating them as if they never happened."

The keyword for the Innovation Committee's second agenda item is 'sacrifice,' and there is speculation that it will likely involve a ban on serving more than three consecutive terms in the same region. Regarding this, Oh said, "Chairman In mentioned in a media interview that sacrifice means fighting vested interests and that innovation without sacrifice is meaningless. This was a principled statement," adding, "We have not yet discussed what to adopt or discard, so we will probably make a final decision through a closed meeting today."

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