Yoo Sang-beom: "Jeon Gwang-hoon's Influence Less Than Gaeddal"

Yoo Sang-beom, the senior spokesperson of the People Power Party, drew a line regarding concerns about Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon's influence on the ruling party, saying, "He is not even a party member and has less influence than the 개딸 (strong supporters of Representative Lee Jae-myung within the Democratic Party)."

On the 4th, Yoo said on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' "Compared to the 개딸 who directly join the Democratic Party as official party members and exert influence, his influence is much less."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He added, "Within the Democratic Party, when the anti-Lee Jae-myung faction voices opposition, they mark targets and attack them, holding demonstrations, effectively taking complete control of the party's democracy to the point where others cannot breathe," and said, "Despite that situation, the current appearance Pastor Jeon is showing is completely different, and he is expressing his voice based on his own philosophy."

Senior Supreme Council Member Kim Jae-won attended Pastor Jeon's worship service and made inappropriate remarks such as opposing the inclusion of the May 18 Spirit in the Constitution and calling for 'Jeon Gwang-hoon’s right-wing unification.' Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo criticized this and also condemned the party's response for not disciplining Kim. When Party Leader Kim Ki-hyun told him to "focus on local administration," Mayor Hong retorted, "Try doing well under Jeon Gwang-hoon," leading to a verbal exchange.

There are concerns that the so-called 'Taegukgi faction' might influence the party and even affect the general election. However, Representative Yoo explained that Pastor Jeon's influence within the party is not significant. He said, "As far as I know, I have hardly felt any specific relationships or influence between him and our party members," adding, "There are many within our party who feel very uncomfortable about this, especially since he acts as a symbol of the far-right Taegukgi group, which is not necessarily viewed positively by the public."

He continued, "He is not even a member of our party but the leader of the Liberty Unification Party, so the concept of drawing a line is somewhat unclear as to how exactly to do it," and said, "He does have influence as a big speaker representing the far-right, but I do not think the party is influenced by him."

He said that in the general election, Pastor Jeon's actions would be limited to campaigning against certain candidates. Yoo said, "If he exerts any influence, it might be through campaigning against specific members of the National Assembly, which cannot be ruled out, but this is not a class president election but a regional (election) for student council president," adding, "His personal influence will be extremely limited."

Regarding Mayor Hong, Yoo said, "His stance always changes depending on his perspective, so I think he can stop now after doing this much," and "I believe that Mayor Hong’s own thoughts and his criticism of Supreme Council Member Kim have been sufficiently conveyed."