[Asia Economy reporters Lee Ji-eun and Kim Hye-min] Kim Jong-in, former chief election campaign committee chairman of the United Future Party, has accepted the position of chairman of the Emergency Response Committee (ERC).
On the 22nd, Kim met with reporters in front of his office and said, "I will do my best to put the party back on the right track and work hard during the remaining period."
On the same day, Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the United Future Party, Lee Jong-bae, chairman of the Policy Committee, and Kim Sung-won, senior deputy floor leader, visited Kim’s office to ask him to take on the role of ERC chairman. Kim accepted the request.
He said, "Ultimately, without any further discussion or objections, I accepted it. I don’t know if there were various circumstances, but it took about a month to make this decision."
Floor leader Joo said, "We informed him today at the elected members’ general meeting that we decided it would be best to have former chairman Kim as the ERC chairman, and we heard from him that he will devote all his efforts to saving the party."
When asked by reporters about his plan to discover the next presidential candidate, Kim said, "It is not the stage to talk about that yet," and regarding his previously advocated 'generation theory of people in their 40s,' he responded, "I don’t know if such a person will emerge or not, so I cannot insist on that unconditionally."
Regarding his earlier media interview where he evaluated that Rep. Yoo Seung-min’s time as a presidential candidate had expired, he was asked if that assessment still holds. He replied, "It’s something I have been saying for two years. Don’t think of it as something new." On Rep. Min Kyung-wook’s allegations of election fraud, he answered, "I do not give it any credibility."
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