[Asia Economy Reporter Kum Bo-ryeong] Hong Joon-pyo, a member of the People Power Party, criticized Kwon Young-se, the head of the election campaign headquarters, saying, "The person who should resolve conflicts is amplifying them."
On the 20th, Hong told reporters at the National Assembly, "It is utterly arrogant to criticize me based on conversations with (People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol)," expressing his stance.
At a dinner meeting with candidate Yoon the previous day, Hong demanded two conditions as prerequisites for joining the campaign headquarters: guarantees of state administration capability and a public declaration to strictly punish corruption involving the candidate’s in-laws. He is also reported to have proposed strategic nominations for Jongno in Seoul and Jung/Nam districts in Daegu. When asked about this, Hong replied, "Because the public is anxious," adding, "If someone like former Board of Audit and Inspection Chairman Choi Jae-hyung is nominated in Jongno, he is a clean person with excellent administrative skills who can complement state administration capabilities."
He continued, "Among the measures to guarantee state administration capabilities, people like former Chairman Choi need to take the forefront of the presidential election for the election to succeed, so I made that request," and added, "They only care about the spoils, not the prayers among themselves."
Hong targeted Head Kwon, saying, "Can a person like that lead the presidential election and make it successful?" and criticized, "If there were disagreements, they should have been discussed and resolved internally."
Earlier that day, at a joint meeting of the campaign headquarters and the party’s floor leadership, Head Kwon said, "If you are a party leader-level figure, you must act appropriately as a leader during this critical presidential election period." This was interpreted as a shot at Hong.
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