Choi Jae-hyung, Chairman of the Innovation Committee of the People Power Party, is attending the 4th plenary meeting of the Innovation Committee held at the National Assembly on the 12th and delivering an opening remark. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@
[Asia Economy reporters Lee Ji-eun and Kwon Hyun-ji] Amid controversy over Ahn Cheol-soo, a member of the People Power Party, calling for the disbandment of the Innovation Committee, Choi Jae-hyung, chairman of the People Power Party Innovation Committee, stated that he had a thorough conversation with Ahn the previous day and that "there will be no disbandment controversy."
On the morning of the 19th, Chairman Choi met with reporters at the National Assembly and said, "Yesterday, Representative Ahn came to our room, and I believe there will be no further controversy regarding disbandment."
He added, "We had a sufficient discussion, and there is a concern that if the Emergency Response Committee does not accept the innovation proposals from the Innovation Committee, it could be perceived as conflict. But with enough communication, it will be resolved, and there will be no more disbandment controversy."
Earlier that morning, Chairman Choi met with Emergency Response Committee Chairman Joo Ho-young to report on the progress of the Innovation Committee. Choi said, "I reported on the progress of the Innovation Committee," and added, "(The Emergency Response Committee Chairman) also expressed his intention to actively support and work together with the Innovation Committee."
Some interpret the call for disbanding the Innovation Committee as an attempt to "erase Lee Jun-seok." In response, Choi said, "There is nothing to erase about former leader Lee Jun-seok," adding, "It is true that Lee initially proposed this plan, but the Supreme Council unanimously agreed on the start and also agreed on the composition." He further stated, "There should be no more talk about the Innovation Committee being Lee's Innovation Committee."
Regarding a meeting with former leader Lee Jun-seok, Choi said, "He has many thoughts about party innovation, and I intend to meet him someday, but we have not met yet," adding, "(The meeting) might cause misunderstandings, so that is why it hasn't happened."
Chairman Joo also told reporters that day, "There was a discussion with Chairman Choi about the Innovation Committee's activities so far, the matters discussed within the Innovation Committee, and future plans," adding, "There was a request to attend the Innovation Committee meeting at 2 p.m. on the 22nd to offer some encouragement."
He emphasized, "The party always needs to innovate and reform where necessary, so the activities of the Innovation Committee are essential," adding, "Even though there is a normal leadership body called the Emergency Response Committee, it is not appropriate for the leadership itself to directly handle innovation issues, so these need to be organized and filtered through the Innovation Committee."
Regarding the Innovation Committee's current activities, there are considerable disagreements within the party about nomination reform. On this, Chairman Joo said, "Since changing the system is highly controversial, there was advice that if contentious issues are brought up prematurely, it would make the Innovation Committee's work difficult."
He continued, "Among the Innovation Committee's agenda items, there will be relatively easy-to-agree proposals and contentious ones," adding, "If everything is presented at once, it could cause confusion, so I suggested handling the items that can be organized first and refining the contentious ones for a second phase."
Regarding former leader Lee Jun-seok filing a main lawsuit following the injunction to suspend the Emergency Response Committee, he said, "Since an injunction is originally based on a main lawsuit, I do not want to attach any special meaning to the filing of the main lawsuit itself," adding, "I believe this indicates an intention to continue dragging out this issue."
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