Na Kyung-won Going to Daegu: "My Mind Is Almost Made Up... I Will Listen to the Sentiment of Daegu and Gyeongbuk"

Hwang Kyo-ahn and Na Kyung-won on 'Road to Korean Party' Controversy: "Korean Party, a Difficult Time to Protect the Party"

Former People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Former People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won has decided whether to run for party leader and said she would announce her decision before the candidate registration day on the 22nd. She also revealed plans to visit Daegu, a region with strong conservative support, on Buddha’s Birthday, the 19th, to listen to public sentiment.

In an interview with MBC Radio’s 'Kim Jong-bae’s Focus' on the same day, when asked about the timing of her candidacy announcement, Na said, "I have almost made up my mind now," adding, "I plan to share my decision soon, whether it will be tomorrow (the 20th) or the day after tomorrow (the 21st)."

When asked if she had struggled between running for president or party leader, she said, "I will serve selflessly," and added, "I thought I should take on any role or responsibility necessary for regime change."

She continued, "Since today is Buddha’s Birthday, I will attend the Buddha’s Birthday celebration ceremony at Donghwasa Temple, the most representative temple in Daegu," and explained, "The Daegu-Gyeongbuk region has been the area with the most supporters of our party, so I decided to move there to listen to public sentiment broadly."

On the same day, Na addressed concerns both inside and outside the party surrounding her. Regarding criticism that if former Future United Party leader Hwang Kyo-ahn and Na take the forefront, the party might revert to being the 'Road to the Korean Party,' she responded, "After the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, the Liberty Korea Party was at a time when our party was on the verge of collapse," adding, "The Korean Party was the period when the opposition party existed to check the regime and struggled hard to keep the party from collapsing." This implies that the party’s situation was unfavorable when Hwang and Na respectively served as party leader and floor leader.

Regarding criticism that she is perceived as weak in securing public support due to her defeats in last year’s general election and this year’s Seoul mayoral by-election primary, she said, "Last year’s general election was a tsunami-like difficult election for us," and "The Seoul mayoral primary was actually a primary that allowed the Democratic Party to choose." She explained that the lack of a reverse voting prevention clause in the fully open primary system was one reason for her defeat. Na explained, "I received a secure number and conducted a poll, but among Democratic Party supporters, I received less than half," adding, "If there are shortcomings, I will work harder."