Kim Byung-min: "It's meaningless to respond to each message from Lee Jun-seok"

The People Power Party's Innovation Committee proposed 'cancellation of disciplinary actions (general amnesty)' as its first innovation plan, but former leader Lee Jun-seok, the subject of the measure, responded coldly. In response, Kim Byung-min, a Supreme Council member of the People Power Party, stated that "there is no need to respond to individual reactions."

On the 3rd, Kim said on BBS's "Jeon Young-shin's Morning Journal," "I think there is little meaning in responding to each message from former leader Lee one by one."

Kim Byung-min, candidate for Supreme Council Member of the People Power Party. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The day before, the People Power Party's Supreme Council decided to cancel the suspension of party membership for former leader Lee and Mayor Hong, following the Innovation Committee's proposal. However, Mayor Hong was furious, calling it "gwahajiyok (跨下之辱, the humiliation of crawling under the crotch)," and former leader Lee also showed only a cold response, saying, "Hello guys, you’ve worked hard. Just raise the approval rating."

However, Supreme Council member Kim expressed that there is no need to respond to individual reactions. He refrained from elaborating, saying, "If we start responding to each individual reaction, the amplitude of conflicts within the party might only deepen."

Regarding Mayor Hong, he said, "(Mayor Hong) often posts political messages through SNS (social networking services). In the past, he has released various messages, but I recall seeing that the tone and the main theme of those messages changed depending on the situation each time." He added, "Since these are Mayor Hong’s personal writings, I hope he focuses on Daegu city administration."

Although there were differing opinions within the party about the 'general amnesty,' Kim explained that since full authority was given to the Innovation Committee, they respected the committee's decision. Kim said, "(The Innovation Committee) seems to believe that when our internal unity is solidified first, we can embark on the path of innovation that involves painful reforms to attempt various changes." He continued, "Since we said we would give full authority to the Innovation Committee, and since the committee proposed that a blanket cancellation of past disciplinary actions is necessary for party harmony and unity, there are many party members who hold different opinions, but we respected the Innovation Committee’s view."

The day before, Mayor Hong targeted the party leadership on SNS, saying about former leader Lee, "Is there any guarantee that someone who once ran away after a fling won’t run away a second time? The party leadership is ignorant and complacent," implying the possibility of Lee founding a new party. In response, Kim said, "I first thought that former leader Lee probably doesn’t like the expression ‘running away.’ I also think that excessively inflating a crisis over something that hasn’t even happened yet is not beneficial or helpful to any political party."

There are also speculations about the possibility of a 'new party formation' after former leader Lee visited former emergency committee chairman Kim Jong-in. However, Supreme Council member Kim said, "(Former Chairman Kim) has played a very significant role in Korean political history, so there are often cases where people visit his Gwanghwamun office to seek personal advice or political guidance." He added, "Interpreting the meeting as a political move or linking it to other political actions is an overinterpretation."

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