Yongho Lee "Withdraws '5-inhoe' Remark"... Junsuk Lee "There Are Other Lists Too"

"Wrong Vocabulary from the Mind of Restoring the Highest Status"
Explanation by Policy Committee Chair and Secretary-General in Official Meetings
Lee Jun-seok: "Kim Ki-hyun, a List of Evasions"

Lee Yong-ho, a member of the People Power Party, officially apologized for his '5-person group' remark.

On the 2nd, Lee stated on his Facebook, "I retract the '5-person group' remark made during the broadcast on May 30." He explained, "It was an inappropriate expression that slipped out as I spoke with the hope that the Supreme Council would quickly regain its role and status," and added, "I sincerely apologize for causing trouble to the party and its leadership with my thoughtless comment."

Interview_Lawmaker Lee Yong-ho of the People Power Party. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Previously, on the 30th of last month, Lee appeared on CBS Radio and claimed, "There is a 5-person group within the party." He said, "The Kim Ki-hyun (leadership) system has become somewhat strange," and questioned, "The Supreme Council is supposed to be the highest decision-making body, but is it just a figurehead? Are the important core agenda decisions actually made elsewhere?" He responded this way when asked why he did not run in the by-election for the Supreme Council seat following the resignation of lawmaker Tae Young-ho, despite being mentioned as a potential candidate.

The party leadership actively moved to contain the situation regarding the remark. On the 1st, Kim Ki-hyun, leader of the People Power Party, met with reporters after a Supreme Council meeting and a visit to a veterans rehabilitation sports site in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, and dismissed the mention of the 5-person group as "not worth considering." He stated, "It is natural for the party leader, secretary-general, policy chief, strategy planning deputy chief, and chief spokesperson to gather and discuss," and retorted, "Is it natural not to consult?"

Secretary-General Lee Cheol-gyu also said in a phone call the previous day, "(Lee Yong-ho) himself said it was a slip of the tongue." He added, "He said he made the remark while raising a counterargument," and emphasized, "Apart from official decision-making bodies, there is absolutely no private interference within the party." Lee Yong-ho stressed, "If there were such (private gatherings), they would not be tolerated."

However, former leader Lee Jun-seok announced he would reveal another list of the 5-person group. He explained that those identified so far as part of the 5-person group, such as Policy Chief Park Dae-chul and Secretary-General Lee Cheol-gyu, are official party officials, and that there are other members. On the 2nd, Lee Jun-seok appeared on SBS Radio and said, "When Lee Yong-ho mentioned there might be something like a 5-person group, I don't know well, but Kim Ki-hyun gave a dodging list," adding, "This is an official meeting body, and I believe there is a separate list."