[Interview] Kim Yong-tae, Director of Yeoyeon, "We Will Establish Identity by Creating Party Value Charter"

Year-End Emergency Committee Report
Party Think Tank Reform Drive Including Strengthening Public Opinion Surveys

Kim Yong-tae, Director of Yeouido Institute. / Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kum Boryeong] The People Power Party plans to establish guidelines by the end of the year to determine the approval or disapproval of policies at the party level. The aim is to present more concrete arguments based on the party's spirit during the policy decision-making process.

Kim Yong-tae, head of the Yeouido Research Institute, recently stated in an interview with Asia Economy at the Yeouido Research Institute office in Yeouido, Seoul, "We have decided to create a value charter unique to the People Power Party," adding, "We plan to prepare a draft by the end of this year and report it to the party leadership." Kim, a three-term lawmaker who previously served as secretary-general of the Liberty Korea Party, the predecessor of the People Power Party, was appointed on the 20th of last month.

The value charter is essentially a principle that clearly shows the party's identity regarding policies. It is an ambitious plan that Kim decided to pursue within two weeks after gathering opinions from both inside and outside the National Assembly upon his inauguration.

He explained the background for this initiative, saying, "A political party is a value-oriented group, and its policies inevitably show partisanship. For that, values and orientations must be precise, but so far, we (People Power Party) have not done well in this area."

For example, regarding the recently controversial 'Yellow Envelope Act' in the political sphere, the People Power Party will not simply oppose it vaguely but will be able to prepare more accurate counterarguments based on philosophy. Real estate policies such as comprehensive real estate tax and official land prices can also be reorganized under this creed. The Yeouido Research Institute has also planned to first select bills with ambiguous approval or disapproval at the party level due to many stakeholders and clarify the party's stance according to the value charter.

This is based on the 'Neo-Conservative Value Charter' proposed by the Liberty Korea Party Innovation Committee in 2017. At that time, the Innovation Committee announced a value charter including ▲minimizing government market intervention ▲minimizing restrictions on property rights ▲granting educational choice rights to students and parents ▲rejecting socialist values that pursue equality of outcomes ▲a strong Korea-US alliance.

Kim said, "We reject market fundamentalism but also reject government fundamentalism that protects public interest," explaining, "If the charter includes minimizing market intervention, our position will be to refrain from government involvement in reorganizing market order as much as possible and to complementarily allow the market to establish its own order."

Kim Yong-tae, Director of Yeouido Institute. / Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

The Yeouido Research Institute plans to attach big data analysis techniques to its proud 'public opinion polls.' Kim said, "Until now, regular surveys have been conducted in a predictable way, asking about party support and presidential approval ratings," adding, "From now on, we intend to proactively and multidimensionally derive survey items by linking with big data."

Following this plan, Kim recently recruited Dr. Kim Jang-su, an expert in the survey field, as deputy director and decided to incorporate opinions from opinion leaders for multidimensional analysis. He said, "We plan to form a pool of about 20 people, including current and former politicians, professors, media figures, and ordinary citizens."

In addition to policy and surveys, Kim also volunteered to serve as the party's 'red team' that conveys external criticism. He said, "There may be critical opinions from private experts on current government policies," adding, "Our role will be to collect those and deliver them to the party leadership." To this end, he plans to accelerate efforts to build a network with external experts.

He was also putting considerable effort into creating 'educational materials' to train party officials and members. Kim said, "Education for party officials and members is important," adding, "We recently recruited an education consultant as well."