Kim Jae-won "Yoo Seung-min's New Party Formation? Look Back at the Bareun Party Days"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Former People Power Party Supreme Council member Kim Jae-won pointed out that the possibility of former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min, who recently declared he will not run in the party leadership election, forming a 'new party' is low, saying, "We need to look back at the time of the Bareun Party."

On the 1st, Kim, a former Supreme Council member, said on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' "A person who has been abandoned by supporters should be seen as having no place in that party."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Go Min-jung, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party of Korea, predicted that former lawmaker Yoo would 'form a new party' regarding his political future, but Kim's analysis is that Yoo, who has been shunned by conservative supporters, has no suitable place to go.

He said, "The most devastating case where the conservative party's foundation collapsed and was ruined was the impeachment. However, at that time, they formed the Bareun Party and left, then finally gave up and returned. We need to look back at that time again. Back then, Yoo had a much better political base in many ways and had his own political claims, but now, even the room to make such political claims has disappeared."

Having left the Saenuri Party to form the Bareun Party, he joined forces with Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, to create the Bareunmirae Party, but this too split again, leading to the formation of the New Conservative Party, which later merged with the Liberty Korea Party. The Future United Party formed at that time is the predecessor of the People Power Party. Kim pointed out that Yoo had formed a new party in the past but failed to achieve political success. At the same time, he left room for possibility, saying, "If he looks back on himself, a path will open, but the question is whether he will look back well."

Regarding the People Power Party leadership election, he conveyed that the grassroots sentiment in Daegu and Gyeongbuk (TK), the party’s stronghold, is unusual. Running for Supreme Council member in this election, he said, "Of course, I have to be very sensitive to the sentiment and public opinion trends of voters in the TK region, and they have been telling me a lot. Since about two weeks ago, I have felt many abnormal signs," and expressed concern, saying, "Among voting intentions, the most important to watch is the vote of anger, and when voting out of anger, sometimes there is no answer and it collapses."

He said that 'anger' is felt in the grassroots sentiment of the TK stronghold. He mentioned an anecdote from the 2010 local elections when the predecessor of the People Power Party, the Grand National Party, suffered a crushing defeat.

Kim said, "At that time, the Pro-Park faction emerged, and Park Geun-hye (then lawmaker) appeared as a veto power in Yeouido, effectively wielding strong authority, and she nominated Mr. Lee from Dalseong-gun, her own constituency, as the county governor candidate. However, an independent candidate who seemed unlikely to win started to lead overwhelmingly," adding, "The residents of Dalseong-gun at that time often said things like, 'If Park Geun-hye is to become the next president, she needs to reflect on the mistake of candidate nomination in this local election.'"