Hong Ik-pyo: "Lee Nak-yeon has a career that cannot be explained without the Democratic Party... Low possibility of a new party"

Hong Ik-pyo, Democratic Party Floor Leader, MBC Radio Interview
"Lee Nak-yeon Should Play a Role in the General Election as a Party Asset"

Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated regarding the 'Lee Nak-yeon new party rumor,' "Based on what I have heard indirectly from those involved, I don't think the possibility is that high."

On the 4th, Hong appeared on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' and said, "The current Lee Nak-yeon is a 'career' that cannot be explained without including the Democratic Party."

Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the policy coordination meeting held at the National Assembly on the 30th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

He continued, "Therefore, leaving the party to create a new one is not an easy decision for Representative Lee Nak-yeon," adding, "I believe my role is to ensure the party harmonizes well and pulls together to prevent that from happening."

Regarding Lee's role ahead of next year's general election, he emphasized, "Even if the party does not assign a role, he should take one," and "As an important politician of our party and the party's standing advisor, it is only natural for the party to provide him with some role."

About the previous day's announcement by senior five-term Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Sang-min to leave the party, he said, "It's regrettable," and "I tried to persuade him until the end and asked him to stay together. While he may have various regrets and disappointments, choosing a party that does not align with the values pursued by the party and his own political values is not desirable."

Regarding electoral system reform, he said, "The work is currently underway to some extent by the Election Commission's delimitation committee for constituencies," and "So we plan to prepare to ensure there are no issues with the registration of preliminary candidates for constituencies on December 11."

Hong added, "The second issue concerns the proportional representation system, but there is still some time until around the end of January."

He further stated, "So we plan to take more time to discuss and reach an agreement within the party and through negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties. If the ruling party agrees to prevent satellite parties, there would be no problem continuing with the current system. However, since the ruling party is keeping the possibility of satellite parties open and is currently in talks, it is a difficult situation for us."

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