盧, Achieves 152 Seats After Leaving Party and Joining New One
Yoon Raises Suspicion by Recruiting 'Party-Founding Expert' Kim Han-gil
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] "President Yoon Seok-yeol says the president he respects is former President Roh Moo-hyun, but it gives me a very familiar sense of d?j? vu. 'I can't continue as president, I need to create a new party.' Former President Roh actually did that."
Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok made this remark on the 7th during SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show' when asked about the 'rumors of President Yoon Seok-yeol leaving the party and founding a new one.' The rumors became controversial after Yoon's mentor, lawyer Shin Pyeong, mentioned them on his social media. Lee pointed out that the content of these rumors closely resembles former President Roh's founding of the Open Democratic Party.
On the 3rd, lawyer Shin stirred controversy by posting on his SNS that "If candidate Ahn Cheol-soo becomes party leader, President Yoon will have no choice but to form a new party through political realignment." Since he is known as President Yoon's mentor, suspicions arose that there might have been communication with the presidential office during his remarks. He denied the 'communication theory,' saying, "After President Yoon took office, he cut off all contact himself," but his statements have unsettled the ruling party.
The image of a president leaving the party that made him a candidate to join a new party is unfamiliar, but more than 20 years ago, former President Roh made a similar decision. On September 29, 2003, just nine months after being elected president, he officially left the Millennium Democratic Party. The justification was to change politics rooted in regionalism through political realignment. In November of that year, reformist lawmakers from the Millennium Democratic Party, the Grand National Party, and the Reform People's Party gathered to establish the Open Democratic Party, which former President Roh officially joined in May the following year.
Former President Roh started with a minority government, but during the impeachment process, a 'public backlash' occurred, and the ruling Open Democratic Party achieved a remarkable majority with 152 seats. This is why some analysts suggest that President Yoon, currently facing a minority government, might be aiming for a similar breakthrough through political realignment. However, there is no guarantee that what happened 20 years ago will happen again this time. Former leader Lee also pointed out, "The Grand National Party overreacted and impeached, and the Open Democratic Party, which should have lost the election, hit the jackpot," adding, "Since it was a founding attempt with a somewhat strange origin, comparing it and thinking about it now is an absurd act."
Speculation that President Yoon intends to form a new party and realign politics has existed since his candidacy. At the Jeonnam election campaign launch in December 2021, he caused a stir by saying, "I had no choice but to choose the People Power Party because I cannot join the Democratic Party. Tremendous innovation is needed for it to become a true ruling party." This coincided with the recruitment of former Democratic Party leader Kim Han-gil, known as a 'founding expert,' as the head of the New Era Committee, raising suspicions within the party about the possibility of founding a new party.
Former leader Kim is the very person who set the remarkable record of changing party affiliation four times in six months and participated in the founding processes of both the Open Democratic Party and the People's Party. That is why he is called a 'founding expert.' Former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil claimed, "Candidate Yoon is gathering Democratic Party defectors, including former leader Kim, to work on founding a new party," and Democratic Party lawmaker Woo Sang-ho supported the political realignment theory in a TBS radio interview, saying, "If that person moves, political forces will be reorganized."
As the controversy over 'leaving the party and founding a new party' grew, Kim, who serves as the president's direct National Unity Committee chairman, issued a direct clarification that day. In a statement titled 'Kim Han-gil's Position on Recent Political Realignment Controversies' distributed to the media, he said on a personal basis, "I am devoted only to my role as National Unity Committee chairman and have never had any meetings related to political realignment nor any plans for it."
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