Kim Jong-in: "If Kim Ki-hyun Fails to Secure Majority in First Round, Ruling Party Will Become Confused"

"Democratic Party Must Find a Way to Prepare for Next Year's General Election"
"Lee Jae-myung's Decision Is Also One Way"

Former People Power Party Emergency Committee Chairman Kim Jong-in expressed regret over the ruling party's leadership election and predicted that if candidate Kim Ki-hyun, who is considered the 'Yun-sim (尹心)' candidate, fails to secure a majority in the first round, the ruling party will face turmoil.

On the 6th, Kim, a former emergency committee chairman, said on KBS's "Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs," "Since candidate Kim is said to have received the most Yun-sim support, if he fails to achieve his goal in the first round of voting this time, the party itself will likely head into a considerably chaotic situation."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He added, "This is because it proves that the party is not showing a united front," and said, "(Even if he wins in the runoff) the party is showing that it no longer follows the president's intentions as before, which could create a rather uncomfortable situation from the president's perspective."

He criticized the involvement of 'Yun-sim' during the leadership election process as abnormal. Kim said, "It would have been better if the president had not expressed any opinion on the selection of the leader, but since there were occasional expressions of opinion, the Yun-sim debate has inevitably arisen," and pointed out, "The ruling party is moving according to the president's will, and there is almost no independence."

He also foresaw the possibility of 'Lee Jun-seok faction' candidate Cheon Ha-ram advancing to the runoff. He said, "If you look at general public opinion polls, candidate Cheon sometimes surpasses the other two candidates, so this is not something to be taken lightly," and added, "In my view, there is a possibility that candidate Cheon will make it to the runoff."

Regarding the vote on the arrest motion for Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party, which has effectively plunged the party into a 'civil war' state, he said, "If they are thinking about next year's general election, they themselves should probably find out what is the most reasonable thing for the party's future," and added, "Depending on the situation, Leader Lee might decide on his own to prepare for the election, and considering various public opinion trends, the members will likely go through a process of reaching an agreement among themselves."