[Hot Interview] Hwang Woo-yeo: "The Emergency Committee Will Pursue Both Managed and Innovative Approaches Simultaneously"

Nominated as People Power Party Emergency Committee Chair on 29th
"Broad Discussion Needed on Party Convention Rules"
Emergency Committee Lineup Expected This Week

Hwang Woo-yeo, the designated emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, announced on the 29th that he will form an emergency committee that simultaneously pursues management and innovation.

On the same day, Hwang said in a phone interview with Asia Economy, "I think we should achieve both at the same time, rather than choosing one and discarding the other." This is interpreted to mean that the emergency committee needs to prepare the next party convention smoothly while demonstrating innovation that meets the public’s expectations.

Hwang Woo-yeo, the designated emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party. / Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

Yoon Jae-ok, the floor leader and acting party leader, appointed former lawmaker Hwang, a five-term representative from the metropolitan area, after a recruitment struggle. This came about three weeks after Han Dong-hoon, the emergency committee chairman, stepped down taking responsibility for the election defeat. Yoon described Hwang as "someone who can fairly manage the party convention" and "the chairman of the management committee for the party convention where former leader Lee Jun-seok was elected."

Hwang, a former judge, entered politics as a proportional representative of the New Korea Party (now People Power Party) in the 15th National Assembly. He was consecutively elected four times from Yeonsu, Incheon, from the 16th to the 19th National Assembly. During his tenure as floor leader of the Grand National Party in December 2011, he played a bridging role in launching Park Geun-hye’s emergency committee, which led to his roles as Saenuri Party leader and Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education in the Park Geun-hye administration. In the 2021 People Power Party convention where Lee Jun-seok was elected as the reform party leader, Hwang also served as the preparation committee chairman.

The key task of the current emergency committee is to discuss revisions to the party convention rules. In 2022, the 'Jung Jin-seok emergency committee' changed the rule from 70% party members and 30% general public opinion polls to 100% party members. After the recent general election defeat, there are calls, mainly from metropolitan area candidates, to change the ratio to reflect up to 50% from both party members and general public opinion polls. There are also opinions to change the current single leadership system, where the party leader and supreme council members are elected together, to a collective leadership system where appointments are made based on the number of votes. Regarding this, Hwang said, "This should be discussed within the committee (emergency committee)," adding, "Before that, there needs to be a broad range of opinions on how the rules should be set."

The emergency committee members are expected to be appointed during this week. The number is anticipated to be around 7 to 9 members. It is expected that, in addition to new figures, senior and influential members will be included. Hwang said, "We have gathered people who can negotiate with the opposition and discuss or collect opinions from floor lawmakers," and added, "I will decide the number and composition of members considering those who can share the workload when I say, 'Let's do it this way.'"

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