Jowonjin: "Cheon Haram and Lee Jun-seok cards have 'turned into fire'... There are limits"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Cho Won-jin, leader of the Our Republican Party, criticized the candidacy of Cheon Ha-ram, a candidate from the 'Lee Jun-seok faction,' saying that the 'Lee Jun-seok card has become more problematic' and pointed out its limitations in expansion.

On the 6th, Cho said on YTN's 'News King Park Ji-hoon' program, "What is regrettable about candidate Cheon is that he should have cut ties with former leader Lee Jun-seok, but the fact that they are rising together is not right."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In response to the host's question, "There is a story that 150,000 out of 800,000 party members' votes belong to Lee Jun-seok," he rebutted, saying, "That is nonsense." Cho stated, "During the presidential election, many people joined to prevent the Democratic Party's regime continuation, and the angry 2030 generation massively joined the People Power Party, not because of former leader Lee Jun-seok," adding, "Former leader Lee and former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min interpret everything self-centeredly. Objectively, that is not the case."

Regarding whether candidate Cheon can make it into the top four cut-off, he said, "It will be close (kkadak-kkadak)."

On conservative YouTubers largely failing the eligibility screening, he criticized, "It was right that former sponsor chairman Kang Shin-up did not run, and conservative YouTubers Shin Hye-sik, Kim Se-ui were pushed out," saying, "They were labeled as far-right."

Regarding lawyer Shin Pyeong, who is the sponsor chairman for candidate Kim Ki-hyun and known as President Yoon Seok-yeol's mentor, mentioning 'presidential withdrawal,' Cho expressed concern, saying, "It's not about the president's withdrawal, but the rift in the party convention has deepened so much that rather than discussing the president's withdrawal, what if former lawmaker Na Kyung-won, former lawmaker Yoo, former leader Lee, and now candidate Ahn Cheol-soo all join hands and withdraw together?"

He suggested that collective withdrawal of the non-Yoon faction could become a reality ahead of the general election. He said, "If this deep rift continues with a year left before the general election, I know that more than about 30 current lawmakers, whether in their constituencies or as out-of-office committee chairs, are already unable to receive nominations from the People Power Party. Do you think these people will just sit still and not run? No," adding, "It is not the president's withdrawal, but rather the anti-Yoon faction may unite and withdraw. Such a situation may arise around April."