'4-term' Lee Myung-soo, the first floor leader candidate of the United Future Party, declares candidacy... "Will reform the party and create a working National Assembly"

Lee Myung-soo, member of the Liberty Korea Party

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hye-min] Lee Myung-soo, a four-term successful lawmaker from the Chungcheong region representing the United Future Party (Chungnam Asan-gap), has become the first among party lawmakers to announce his candidacy for floor leader.

On the 1st, Lee issued a press release declaring his candidacy, stating, "I will reform the party and make the National Assembly a working parliament."

The United Future Party has decided to leave the launch of the 'Kim Jong-in Emergency Committee' to the next floor leadership. This is why there is keen interest in who will take on the new floor leader position. In a previous statement, Lee opposed the 'Kim Jong-in Emergency Committee' system and advocated for self-reliance.

Regarding the recent general election results, Lee said, "Although there is analysis that the chaos in the nomination process and some candidates' controversial remarks influenced the outcome, fundamentally, I believe our party lost because we failed to present alternatives that match the changing times to the public." He diagnosed, "On the surface, we hastily painted a pretty pink color, but the image the public saw was like a black-and-white picture on a cathode-ray tube television."

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Lee emphasized, "Our party lacked policies containing unique values on issues directly related to people's lives such as employment, housing, job creation, environment, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. From now on, we must present alternatives that embody these values." He presented a vision, saying, "The party must transform into one that can elegantly revive traditional conservative values of growth and development alongside values like fairness, peace, democracy, and innovation, gaining public sympathy."

He also supported the idea of generational change. Lee stated, "Nearly half of the elected lawmakers are first-term, proving that experience no longer resonates with the public." He added, "When young politicians inside and outside the assembly express themselves with youthful ideas and sensibilities, generational change will naturally occur, and the party will be reborn as one that gains public sympathy."

Lee said, "We need a capable and innovative new floor leadership that can move beyond wasteful and hostile ideological confrontations and lead the people toward harmony with rational policies." Regarding the party's future direction, he said, "After gathering the consensus of the elected members, it is the right approach for the party to carefully decide on the leadership composition at the party level," indicating that the party's operational direction will be determined around the floor leadership and the elected members' general meeting.

He emphasized, "As a four-term senior lawmaker of the party in the current situation, I feel an immense sense of responsibility. If given the opportunity to be floor leader, I will do my best to reform the party and create a working National Assembly."