Yoo Seung-min: "Yoon Should Reach Out to Lee Jae-myung... Considering Whether Challenging for the R Party Leadership Is Meaningful"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Yoo Seung-min, a former lawmaker and one of the ruling party's next presidential contenders, emphasized the need for 'cooperation' and said that President Yoon Seok-yeol should extend a hand first to Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. Regarding whether he will run for party leadership, he said, "I am considering whether it is meaningful to challenge for the People Power Party's leadership."

On the 2nd, Yoo appeared on YTN's 'News King Park Ji-hoon' and said, "Lee is currently facing corruption allegations related to Daejang-dong and Seongnam FC, but the president should just leave those matters to the prosecution and the courts and focus solely on Lee Jae-myung as the Democratic Party leader, and it would be good to cooperate and have dialogue."

He added, "In the new year, difficulties are expected in economic issues, livelihood issues, and then security issues. Where does the strength to overcome these come from? Ultimately, the political sphere must be able to reach agreements and cooperate beyond factions to solve the people's problems, but the current inability to do so must be very frustrating for the public."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding running in the party leadership election, he said, "I am really thinking a lot," and "At this point, whether it is truly meaningful for me to challenge for the People Power Party leadership is my biggest concern." This implies that his chances of winning are slim under the new party leadership election rules, which are based 100% on party members' votes.

He said, "I am overwhelmingly ahead in overall public opinion, but I am not first among the People Power Party supporters," and "Regardless of whether I personally become party leader or not, I am worried about how the public will perceive the People Power Party members holding a gymnasium-like election party among themselves."

Some analyze that the change to '100% party member votes' in the leadership election rules targets Yoo. He said, "The election rules might be designed to eliminate me, and that could be the case," but he also expressed concerns about the president becoming a party dictator and the party's extreme right-wing shift. Yoo said, "Many people think 'he is too conservative,' and there are many YouTubers and former presidents of the First Lady's fan club appearing."

He also pointed out that the party's situation reminds him of the Park Geun-hye administration era. He said, "The conservative party in 2007 fought between pro-Park and pro-Lee factions, and then from 2012 to 2016, it fought between pro-Park and non-pro-Park factions and lost," adding, "The pro-Park gatekeepers came out and said, 'We will only nominate those who strictly follow President Park Geun-hye's words,' and because of that, they lost."

Regarding President Yoon's New Year's address, he said, "There was no mention of security or North Korea," and questioned, "North Korea is currently conducting various provocations with nuclear missiles and drones, so how could there be no mention of security in the New Year's address?" He continued, "He talked about the three major reforms of labor, pensions, and education, but among the reform tasks in our country, the most important right now is the population issue," and added, "It is frustrating that the government shows no real will to raise the birth rate and truly overcome the low birthrate and population problems."

He also expressed a critical view of labor reform. He said, "Can labor reform be pushed through unilaterally?" and "They need to come up with a plan that can persuade the public through close, deep dialogue and negotiation with labor groups, but is the content and strategy of the reform appropriate right now?"