Kim Jae-won: "The current government supplies opposition presidential candidates like an incubator... We need to consider President Moon's thoughts"

"I don't know if it's a platform regime or an incubator regime"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Kim Jae-won, Supreme Council Member of the People Power Party, criticized the situation where figures from the Moon Jae-in administration are emerging as opposition presidential candidates.

On the 22nd, Kim appeared on MBC Radio’s ‘Kim Jong-bae’s Focus’ and said, "President Moon should also reflect on this," adding, "The opposition still does not have a decent presidential candidate. The opposition party has been mocked as an infertile party, yet in this situation, the Moon administration is supplying personnel like an incubator."

He continued, "They are nurturing former Deputy Prime Minister Kim Dong-yeon, former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, and now Audit Chairman Choi Jae-hyung as presidential candidates and supplying them to the opposition," and said, "I don’t know if this is a platform government or an incubator government."

Regarding the People Power Party’s presidential primary, he also argued that the party should respond more flexibly.

He said, "According to the People Power Party’s constitution and regulations, the candidate must be selected four months before the presidential election," and added, "Counting backward, candidate registration happens around October 7, 8, or 9, so even if someone joins the party in early October, it is still possible," and said, "Expressions like ‘the bus leaves at the end of August, so after that the shutters come down’ are good for urging people to join and unite, but if you say ‘that’s really it’ afterward, it changes the situation." He also mentioned, "Originally, city buses don’t run just one bus; several buses keep running continuously."

Kim said, "If the ‘bus theory’ that you must join by August is meant as an urging, then as party leader, I think that is a natural statement," but he also pointed out, "If the pressure is too much and some people start doubting whether the party will fairly manage the primary when they join, then that becomes a problem.".