"Reestablishing Party-Government Relations"... Unified Call from Ruling Party After Kim Ki-hyun's Resignation

Yongho Lee "Repeated Confusion if Party Fails to Take Leading Role"
Jaehyung Choi "Appropriate Tension Needed with Yongsan"
Kyungwon Na "Emergency Committee Chair Should Be a Strong Speaker"

Former People Power Party leader Kim Ki-hyun abruptly resigned from his position on the 13th, prompting evaluations within the party as a 'beginning of change' along with widespread calls for a 'redefinition of the party-government relationship.'

On the 14th, Representative Lee Yong-ho said in an MBC radio interview regarding Kim's resignation, "Ultimately, the party must take responsibility for elections, and the party leader inevitably bears a heavier burden," adding, "If the relationship between the party and the presidential office and the party's leading role are not properly established following the defeat in the Gangseo District Office by-election and this incident, such events will continue to recur."

Kim Ki-hyun, leader of the People Power Party, resigned, and on the following day, the 14th, Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader and acting party leader, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Representative Choi Jae-hyung stated on YTN radio, "The resignation or non-candidacy of former leader Kim Ki-hyun and Representative Jang Je-won starts from acknowledging problems in the previously vertical party-government relationship and the national governance approach," and evaluated, "Yongsan (the presidential office) also had sufficient recognition of this, which is why the party leader and Representative Jang resigned and chose not to run."

Choi emphasized that the emergency committee chairman who will lead the party after Kim's resignation must be someone capable of resolving the party-government relationship issues. He said, "Someone who can maintain an appropriate tension in the Yongsan party-government relationship while facilitating communication and cooperation should come," adding, "They must be able to demonstrate party innovation and minimize various internal conflicts and confusion, someone who knows the party well."

Former Representative Na Kyung-won, after attending a joint book concert at a cafe in Seoul that day, told reporters, "There must be changes in the ruling party's political operating system for the emergency committee chairman to be active," and stated, "A redefinition of the party-government relationship is a prerequisite for more effective formation of the emergency committee and establishment of party leadership." She added, "The emergency committee chairman's voice should be louder; in other words, it is right for someone with a strong presence to serve as the chairman."

The People Power Party decided on the same day to transition the party to an emergency committee system to fill the vacancy left by Kim's resignation. Candidates for the emergency committee chairman include Kim Han-gil, chairman of the National Integration Committee, and Kim Byung-joon, former emergency committee chairman of the Liberty Korea Party (the predecessor of the People Power Party). Additionally, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong, Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon, and former Innovation Committee chairman In Yo-han are also being mentioned.