Kim Jong-min "Reform New Party, Planned Breakup of Integration"... Lee Jun-seok "Return Subsidies"

Kim Jong-min, a Supreme Council member of Saeroun Mirae who joined the Reform New Party, emphasized on the 19th, "Representative Lee Jun-seok is trying to break the integration out of a sense of crisis after seeing his support base waver." He claimed that the dissolution of the integration was planned and executed by Representative Lee Jun-seok.

At a National Assembly press conference that afternoon, Supreme Council member Kim said, "In order to bring Kim Jong-in, they forcibly pushed through an absurdly undemocratic agenda at today's Supreme Council meeting with the intention of erasing Lee Nak-yeon." Earlier that day, the Reform New Party delegated election campaign and policy decision-making authority to Co-Representative Lee Jun-seok at the Supreme Council meeting and passed an agenda to be implemented in consultation with Lee, who is co-chair of the joint policy committee.

Kim stressed, "Overall, it appears that the dissolution of the integration was planned and executed." He explained, "When (Representative Lee) canceled the Supreme Council meeting on Thursday (the 15th), he said that if Baek Bok-joo, former vice-chair of the Justice Party, was not excluded and announced, there would be no consultation or meeting. We said this should not be the case. We proposed an alternative that the Baek Bok-joo issue should be handled procedurally and that the full authority issue should be discussed through the Supreme Council meeting rather than being delegated in blank."

Press Conference Held by Assemblyman Jongmin Kim
(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Junhee Shin = Jongmin Kim, Supreme Council Member of the Reform New Party, is holding a press conference on the 18th at the Saeroun Mirae Party headquarters in Yeouido regarding recent party matters. 2024.2.18
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However, he claimed, "(The Reform New Party side) stubbornly pushed through what they wanted. So it was forcibly processed." He added, "I thought it was because Representative Lee's support base was leaving a lot online, but it seems he decided to break the integration, planned it, and followed that schedule."

Supreme Council member Kim revealed, "I heard that Co-Representative Lee Jun-seok planned that if Lee Nak-yeon and I resign, he would appoint former Supreme Council member Cheon Ha-ram and Representative Lee Won-wook as Supreme Council members, then visit former People Power Party emergency committee chairman Kim Jong-in to give him full authority and ask him to take charge of the nomination committee." However, he clarified that this information was "conveyed to me by a reporter," not directly from the parties or related persons.

Regarding subsidies, Supreme Council member Kim emphasized, "It is naturally seen by the public as an improper use of funds, so the national treasury should reclaim it. It is a kind of fraud against the public and must never happen." He said, "If they received subsidies by filling five lawmakers on the 14th with the intention of breaking the integration like this, it would be unacceptable to the public," and added, "If the integration does not hold, I believe the funds should be reclaimed."

Lee Jun-seok, Co-representative, Speaking
(Seoul=Yonhap News) Lee Jun-seok, co-representative of the Reform New Party, is speaking at a discussion invited by the Kwanhun Club held at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul on February 19, 2024. [Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers]
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He continued, "Saeroun Mirae views this as a very serious situation and tonight Co-Representative Lee Nak-yeon and Saeroun Mirae responsible committee members will discuss response measures after careful consideration," and explained, "If possible, there will be a press conference around 10 a.m. on the 20th to announce Saeroun Mirae's position on this matter at the co-representative level."

Meanwhile, Representative Lee Jun-seok stated, "If lawmakers leave the party and the number of seats falls below five, the Reform New Party will return all the national subsidies already paid."

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