"Na Kyung-won to Lee Jun-seok on 'Abolish All Quotas': 'You Also Benefited from Strategic Nomination, Kicking Away the Ladder'"

"Received Strategic Nomination as 'Future Maker' in Last Year's Candidate Selection"
Believing Unconditional Meritocracy and Elitism Undermine Fairness Is Wrong

On the afternoon of May 30, at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Chipyeong-dong, Seo-gu, Gwangju, Na Kyung-won, a candidate for the People Power Party leader, is presenting her policy platform at the joint speech meeting for party leader and supreme council member candidates from Gwangju, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam, and Jeju.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] Former lawmaker Na Kyung-won, who challenged the leadership of the People Power Party, criticized candidate Lee Jun-seok, who advocates for the complete abolition of all quota systems, saying he is "kicking away the ladder."

On the 2nd, Na appeared on TBS Radio's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' and said, "I am also opposed to the youth quota system," adding, "He himself was included in the announcement of 17 Future Makers as a youth emergency committee member, and even though there was a young member of the Liberty Korea Party who worked very hard in that region when he received the nomination last year, he was given a kind of strategic nomination."

He continued, "The problem is not the quota system itself but the way it is operated. Isn't the approach going too extreme?" and expressed concern, saying, "I worry that such aspects do not align with the spirit of the times we should be heading towards."

He also said, "I have advocated for the abolition of age restrictions for candidacy and mandatory youth nominations for basic councilors to expand youth political participation, but candidate Lee keeps arguing that these parts hinder fair competition," adding, "I believe unconditional meritocracy and elitism actually harm fairness, and this is going in the opposite direction of where we should be heading."

Regarding the conflict between Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, and candidate Lee, he explained, "As you know, there was also the 'Jinge' incident, wasn't there? In fact, all our public affairs start from private trust, don't they? I was expressing concerns about that part."

Na also said that candidate Lee engages in politics of hatred. He said, "I deeply empathize with the fact that young men in their 20s are being discriminated against, but rather than providing fundamental solutions, isn't he inciting conflicts in those areas?"

Regarding the factors behind candidate Lee’s success, he stated, "It is not about the individual candidate Lee but rather a call for reform and criticism of our party."