Heo Eun-ah: "Whether Lee Jun-seok Joins the New Party? Yongsan Must Answer"

Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok is pushing for a new party, and one of his close aides, People Power Party lawmaker Heo Eun-ah, raised her voice on whether she would join the new party, saying, "Yongsan should answer that question."

On the 14th, Heo said on YTN's "News King Park Ji-hoon" program, "Many people ask me if I will join (Lee Jun-seok's new party), but I actually think this question is not one that former leader Lee should be asking me right now. I hope reporters keep persistently asking Yongsan," she said.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The decision to form a new party depends on Yongsan's moves. She said, "(Yongsan) needs to give the answer. I have not made any decision yet, but to put it briefly, I will follow the will of the people," adding, "In any case, I will not act disgracefully, nor will I behave in a shabby manner in the eyes of the public."

On the 12th, former leader Lee also met with his close aide 'Cheon Ah Yongin' to share the action plan for founding the new party. 'Cheon Ah Yongin' refers to the four pro-Lee Jun-seok candidates who ran in the People Power Party's March 8 leadership election: Cheon Ha-ram, head of the Suncheon-gap party committee; lawmaker Heo; former youth supreme council member Kim Yong-tae; and Gyeonggi Province assembly member Lee Gi-in.

Regarding concerns that the talk of a new party is coming too quickly and causing fatigue or skepticism, she said, "This is actually the reason we met. Earlier, you used the term 'action plan,' and when (former leader Lee) spoke frankly about various prepared scenarios and his thoughts, we were able to fully empathize with that direction and realized it was not just empty talk. We definitely felt that it was not merely words as outsiders might think."

As a proportional representative, if lawmaker Heo leaves the party to join the new party, she would lose her seat. When asked about the possibility of leaving the party, Heo said, "I will follow the will of the people, and if you say that is too ambiguous, I will not act disgracefully in any case," adding, "I will not behave in a shabby manner in the eyes of the public, no matter what."

Former leader Lee has also suggested the possibility of founding the new party in Yeongnam or Gwangju. Regarding this, Heo said, "He talked about a nationwide party. There are many reasons why former leader Lee attracts public attention, but one is that he does not lose the big picture for small gains. He firmly believes that if you carry the flag, you must go to the toughest battlefield, and that has not changed even when we were together."

She continued, "So, Daegu, the core of conservatism, but if you think of another tough area, even Gwangju, these discussions are happening, and that is why such talks are heard. Although a specific region has not been decided yet, the basic attitude of former leader Lee toward this new party discussion is like that, and what I felt was that he really has staked his political life on this, and that is how I felt."

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