Yoon Sang-hyun Declares Candidacy for Ruling Party Leader, Promises to Successfully Change President and Party

Transforming into a Value-Just Party, People’s Livelihood Party, and Innovation Party

On the 23rd, Yoon Sang-hyun, a member of the People Power Party, officially declared his candidacy for the party leadership election on July 23, stating, "I am confident in successfully driving change for the President and the party."

On the same day, Yoon held a press conference at Yonghyeon Market in Michuhol-gu, Incheon, saying, "I will devote everything to helping the success of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration and to innovating the party." Unlike former emergency committee chairman Han Dong-hoon, former Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong, and lawmaker Na Kyung-won, who held press conferences at the National Assembly Communication Center, Yoon made his announcement in his own constituency.

Yoon emphasized, "Over the past two years, the President's rough governance has fallen short of the public's expectations. The President has stepped forward to initiate change. The party must proactively open the floodgates of change."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In particular, based on his election experience winning in difficult districts, he expressed his ambition to build a party capable of winning the next local elections and presidential election. Yoon stated, "Based on Yeongnam, the heart of conservatism, we will expand our base to the metropolitan area and the central region, launching a great leap forward in the metropolitan area to become a party with a broader reach."

Yoon also promised, "I will create a party where public opinion becomes party opinion, and party opinion becomes Yoon's opinion. I will convey public sentiment to the President without alteration, sometimes supporting the President's governance and at other times guiding the President."

Finally, he declared, "I will build a party that restores politics," pledging to transform the party into a value-based party, a livelihood party, and an innovation party.

His pledges included innovation of the Yeouido Research Institute (value-based party), activation of the central party's civil complaint office and establishment of a candid criticism committee (livelihood party), and establishment of regional parties, appointment of an external secretary-general, and a party member recall system (innovation party). He also announced plans to open a second party office in Gwangju and to reform the nomination system through decisions on nomination rules six months before elections and a long-term party member bonus system.

He also took a jab at former chairman Han, a leading contender for the next party leadership and the chief strategist of the general election. Yoon criticized, "The white paper documenting the general election defeat has yet to be published. It is deeply regrettable to postpone the general election white paper until after the party convention out of consideration for a specific individual."

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