Yoon Geon-young: "Yoon's One-sided Rule Cannot Stop Due to Subtractive Politics Dividing Pro-Moon and Pro-Myeong"

Pro-Moon Faction's Yoon Geon-young: "Additive Politics Needed to Stop Yoon's Solo Run"
Lee Eon-ju Returns to Party: "Expansion Should Not Be One-Sided"

Interview_Yoon Geon-young, Former Director of the Blue House National Situation Room./Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

On the 30th, Yoon Geon-young, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said, "Only when we practice additive politics rather than subtractive politics can we stop the unilateral dominance of the Yoon Seok-yeol government." This was a critical remark regarding the intensifying factional conflict between the pro-Myeong (pro-Lee Jae-myung faction) and pro-Moon (pro-Moon Jae-in faction) over the reinstatement of former lawmaker Lee Eon-ju, who had played the role of a sniper against the Moon Jae-in administration. Yoon, who served as the chief of the Moon Jae-in administration's state affairs office, is considered a key figure in the pro-Moon faction.

On the same day, Yoon appeared on KBS's "Jeon Jong-cheol's Jeonggyeok Sisa" and said, "In elections, unity and solidarity are needed more than differences. This is especially true for the opposition." In response to the host's mention that pro-Myeong non-incumbent figures are demanding pro-Moon lawmakers to not run or to run in difficult districts, or that there are declarations of "assassin" candidacies in pro-Moon incumbent districts, Yoon said, "This is something that cannot happen in common sense." He added, "The only strength in elections is unity and solidarity. You cannot win an election by dividing politics into pro-Moon or pro-Myeong."

Regarding the growing discord over former lawmaker Lee Eon-ju's reinstatement, Yoon indirectly criticized it. He said, "During election periods, it is right to bring in people of various colors. However, expanding the base should not be skewed to one side. The branches of a tree should spread evenly; if they lean to one side, they are easily broken."

Former Future United Party (predecessor of the People Power Party) lawmaker Lee Eon-ju held a press conference on the 13th at the National Assembly Communication Office announcing her joining the campaign of Hong Joon-pyo, a People Power Party presidential primary candidate, as a co-chief campaign director. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Currently, the Democratic Party of Korea is experiencing increasing discord over the push to reinstate former lawmaker Lee Eon-ju. Lee, a lawyer by profession, joined the Democratic United Party (now the Democratic Party) in 2012. He ran for the 19th general election in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, and was re-elected consecutively. However, opposing the "Moon Jae-in hegemony," he left the Democratic Party in 2017 to support lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo and joined the People's Party. In 2020, he joined the United Future Party (now the People Power Party), but after criticizing President Yoon Seok-yeol, he left the People Power Party earlier this year. Recently, he has been weighing a return to the party following a "love call" from leader Lee Jae-myung.

Regarding the People Power Party's pledge to purge the activist faction, Yoon directly criticized, saying, "Instead of targeting the activist faction, they should control inflation and manage the economy." He questioned, "There are many so-called 586 activists in the People Power Party as well. Are the 586 in the Democratic Party targets for purging, while those in the People Power Party are targets for recruitment?" He added, "Talking about killer nominations and activist factions makes me think the ruling party is not acting like a ruling party and is taking the path of the opposition."

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