People Power Party Intoxicated by Victory, Conflict Over Leadership System

Yoo Seung-min and Others Prefer Collective Leadership System
Voices for Single Leadership System Within the Party

Some Raise Reappointment of Kim Jong-in
Merger with the People's Party Also Stalls

Joo Ho-young, Acting Leader of the People Power Party, is attending the floor strategy meeting at the National Assembly on the 13th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy reporters Hyunju Lee, Boryeong Geum, and Juni Park] The People Power Party is experiencing repeated turmoil over the 'post-Kim Jong-in' system. Amid divided opinions within the party regarding the next leadership structure, calls for reappointing former Emergency Committee Chairman Kim Jong-in remain strong. Discussions on merging with the People’s Party have not gained momentum. The conflict over the People Power Party’s next leadership system arose as opinions clashed between maintaining the current single leadership system and switching to a collective leadership system ahead of the party convention. The single leadership system involves separate elections for the party leader and supreme council members, while the collective leadership system integrates these elections and selects the leader and supreme council members based on ranking.

Seong Il-jong, a member of the People Power Party’s Emergency Committee, appeared on MBC Radio on the 13th and said, "The collective leadership system is mainly used to mediate factional interests when factions exist, but there are no factions in the party," adding, "There is a lot of discussion among lawmakers questioning whether it is necessary to introduce a new system like the collective leadership system that could cause confusion."

Earlier, on the 8th, former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min argued at a seminar of the People Power Party’s current and former lawmakers’ group ‘Mapo Forum,’ led by former lawmaker Kim Moo-sung, that "a collective leadership system can reflect diverse voices and opinions." Former lawmaker Kim Moo-sung also agreed on the need for a collective leadership system, saying, "There was talk that our party lacks people because one person monopolizes the speaker’s role."

Different voices are emerging inside and outside the National Assembly. A re-elected lawmaker of the People Power Party said, "In the phase leading up to the presidential election, rather than spending energy on changing the leadership system, we should focus party efforts on reading public sentiment and approaching the people."

Kim Jong-in, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, and Joo Ho-young, Floor Leader, are entering the members' meeting held at the National Assembly on the 8th, receiving applause. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Some are also advocating for the reappointment of former Chairman Kim. Although not immediately, there is a forecast that Kim will eventually reunite with the People Power Party. It should also be considered that the top three opposition presidential candidates?former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, People’s Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo, and independent lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo?are all outside the People Power Party. Eom Kyung-young, director of the Era Spirit Research Institute, analyzed, "There is a high probability that former Chairman Kim will not join the People Power Party after allying with former Prosecutor General Yoon outside, but rather ‘take over’ when the party requests."

Meanwhile, negotiations on merging with the People’s Party continue to be tense. The People Power Party plans to form a party convention preparation committee next week and elect the party leader first if the People’s Party does not express its position. A People Power Party official said, "We originally planned to launch the party convention preparation committee yesterday (the 12th), but since there was no clear explanation from the People’s Party, we set next Thursday (the 22nd) as the deadline for launching it." If the People’s Party does not present its desired conditions regarding the form and method of the merger until the end, the People Power Party intends to proceed with electing the leadership first. However, this is also subject to change. Joo Ho-young, acting party leader of the People Power Party, told reporters after the floor strategy meeting that day, "We postponed it because of the People’s Party’s timetable," adding, "If we launch the preparation committee first, it could be misunderstood as ignoring the People’s Party and acting unilaterally, so although we originally planned to do it around Thursday, we expect changes depending on the People’s Party’s timetable."