Pragmatic Centrist Reform Politics... Challenges for Minshengdang
"Will Do Our Best for Constitutional Amendment After the General Election"
Regarding Calls to Run in the Election: "Will Think About It More"
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Sohn Hak-kyu, leader of the Bareunmiraedang, stated on the 24th, "Although I am now returning to being an ordinary party member, the spirit of pragmatic centrist reform politics that I devoted my life to will remain a task for the Minsaengdang to realize."
At a farewell press conference held at the National Assembly that afternoon, Sohn said, "I will do my best to fulfill the duties given to complete a country where everyone prospers together, a life with evenings, and the 7th Republic, as promised to the people," adding, "I will also do my best, even if in a small way, for the constitutional amendment that will vigorously unfold after the general election."
Sohn emphasized, "Politics, which should achieve national consensus and lead the government stably, is mired only in extreme ideological conflicts caused by the imperial presidency and the vested interests of the two major parties," and added, "The future generation responsible for the future of the Republic of Korea must become the main actors in politics, achieve generational change, and revolutionize the old political structure as our way to survive."
He said, "For the past 541 days, I have done my best to fulfill the promises made to the people," and added, "To achieve the mixed-member proportional representation system, I even undertook a ten-day hunger strike in December 2018, and the following year, during the fast-track political situation, our party played a leading role, resulting in the introduction of a semi-proportional representation system, albeit imperfect."
He continued, "During that process, all kinds of humiliation and disgrace were poured on Sohn Hak-kyu personally. I was called greedy and mentally deteriorated. There were also false rumors about money issues," and added, "If I had run for the party leadership of Bareunmiraedang for personal gain, I would have quit long ago. However, I ran for the leadership with the sole determination to dedicate myself to political structural reform and generational change, enduring all kinds of insults to protect the party."
Sohn said, "When the Yoo Seung-min faction demanded my resignation as party leader, I did not step down because I knew they would take over Bareunmiraedang and merge it into the Liberty Korea Party," and criticized, "I hoped former leader Ahn Cheol-soo would return and uphold the spirit of centrist reform, but he only demanded my resignation and left, soon after which he took steps toward leaving the party and founding a new one, confirming a factionalist stance. It was a personally regrettable moment."
Sohn explained, "During the recent three-party merger process, I did my best to prevent the party from becoming a Honam-based party," and added, "However, the demands from the future generation forces regarding Bareunmiraedang were excessively strong, so the integration with the future generation was temporarily halted."
Regarding his role in the general election, Sohn said, "I primarily plan to actively support campaigns in regions where there is a possibility of election victory," and added, "If there is something I am specifically needed for, it will vary depending on the situation."
On running for the general election, Sohn said, "Many people talk about it. They mention specific regions and discuss that I should run in certain areas to raise the political status of our Minsaengdang," and added, "I will think about it more in the future. Rather than thinking about what I want to achieve, if there is something I need to do for the party and the politics of this country, I have never avoided it so far."
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