Cheon Haram "If the 5-member group 'passes over' Kim Gi-hyeon, the worst-case scenario"

The Supreme Council is in turmoil as suspicions have arisen that a '5-person group' monopolizing the party's actual decision-making process exists within the People Power Party. Former leader Lee Jun-seok has announced he will reveal the actual list of this 5-person group, and Cheon Ha-ram, former head of the Suncheon Gap district party committee and an ally of Lee Jun-seok, expressed concerns, saying, "There may be a secretive group other than Representative Kim Ki-hyun."

On the 5th, Cheon stated on KBS's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs,' "The worst situation is that Representative Kim is being bypassed," expressing his concerns.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He explained, "At first, when the talk about the 5-person group came up, people initially thought it referred to members like the Secretary-General, Deputy Secretary-General, spokesperson, and chair of the Policy Committee, who hold separate morning strategy meetings. If it was about those members, there would be no problem at all."

However, the situation became stranger when Rep. Lee Yong-ho of the People Power Party retracted his statement about the '5-person group.' Cheon said, "Then it gives the impression that it might not be official party officers but rather some kind of secretive group. If there is a secret organization formed by Representative Kim, that would be somewhat fortunate."

He added, "The worst case would be if there is a secretive group of people other than Representative Kim. To know the exact outline, we need to see who exercises how much authority during the actual nomination process."

Cheon suggested that there might be a separate 5-person group communicating with the Presidential Office, not involving Representative Kim. He said, "Soon, the power dynamics in Yeouido will become clear by seeing who people lobby. Those who are the targets of lobbying either actually hold power or are perceived to hold power. The problem is whether people see the current representative and Supreme Council members as the core of power. That is the issue."

He pointed out that the background of the 5-person group controversy is the cynical response toward the Supreme Council. Cheon stated, "People seem to have different ideas about exactly who the 5-person group is. Unlike the Democratic Party's 7-person group, it doesn't seem like there is an official list. Ultimately, this reflects people's somewhat cynical reaction to the Supreme Council, and above all, the key point, in my view, is the feeling that the Supreme Council might not receive 100% of the nominations."