Kim Byung-min "Harsh Criticism of the Democratic Party, Was It Because of 'One Team' Jealousy?"

At the People Power Party's national convention, Kim Byung-min, who was elected as a Supreme Council member of the new leadership, responded to the Democratic Party of Korea's evaluation of the new leadership by saying, "The party's unity and alignment with the government in national governance must have been quite frustrating for them."

On the 9th, in response to a related question from the host on KBS's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs,' Supreme Council member Kim said, "Yesterday, during the national convention, Cho Jung-sik, the Democratic Party's Secretary-General, visited together, and I thought, 'Ah, there might be some basic meaning in working together,' but right after it ended, they issued such harsh criticism, which I find somewhat bewildering."

Kim Byung-min, the newly appointed Supreme Council member of the People Power Party, is delivering his acceptance speech at the party's 3rd national convention held on the 8th at KINTEX in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

At the previous day's national convention, Kim Ki-hyun, who received a final 52.9% of the votes, was elected as the party leader, and the entire leadership was composed of pro-Yoon (친윤) faction members. In response, the Democratic Party commented, "Kim's election is a death sentence for democracy within the People Power Party," and evaluated, "Kim was the candidate from the beginning anyway."

Regarding this, Supreme Council member Kim said, "At least on the day of the election, even the opposing party should send a congratulatory message as a basic courtesy," and pointed out, "Within the Democratic Party, there is currently an extreme state of chaos surrounding the judicial risks of leader Lee Jae-myung."

However, there are also criticisms that Kim, who has a strong pro-Yoon color, lacks expansiveness in the general election. Public opinion polls showing voters intending to cast ballots to 'check the ruling party' in the general election attest to this. Supreme Council member Kim said, "Public sentiment can move a lot even within a short period of about a month," and added, "I think the people will evaluate how the Yoon Seok-yeol government, which the people created, has performed over the next two years, and I plan to properly show the image of a working party during the one year."