Cho Kuk "Hyeokshindang Is Not a Satellite Party of the Democratic Party"

"Cooperative and Competitive Relationship with the Democratic Party"
"Neither Party Formation nor Election Received Help from the Democratic Party"
On the Revival of the Civil Affairs Secretary Office, "Seems They Thought They Should Control the Prosecution"

Jo Guk, leader of the Jo Guk Innovation Party, strongly stated on the 30th, "We were not a satellite party of the Democratic Party, and we will not be in the future."

Representative Jo Guk of the Jo Guk Innovation Party. [Photo by Yonhap News]

On the same day, during a morning greeting to party officials at the Yeouido party headquarters, Jo emphasized, "The Jo Guk Innovation Party neither received help from the Democratic Party in its founding nor in the election."

He urged, "Please keep in mind that the Jo Guk Innovation Party maintains a 'firm cooperative relationship' and a 'productive competitive relationship' with the Democratic Party for progressive and reform tasks."

Amid growing skepticism about whether the Democratic Party will cooperate on recent issues such as the lowering of the National Assembly floor negotiation group criteria or the proposal of the Jo Guk Innovation Party’s first general election pledge, the 'Han Dong-hoon Special Prosecutor Act,' this statement is interpreted as emphasizing the party’s independent course.

About 30 recently appointed party officials attended the greeting, including Floor Leader Hwang Un-ha, Secretary-General Hwang Hyun-sun, Chief Secretary Cha Gyu-geun, Political Affairs Director Jo Yong-woo, and spokespersons Kim Bo-hyeop, Bae Su-jin, and Kang Mi-jung.

Jo told them, "It does not matter which party you belonged to before. Please internalize our party’s vision, values, and behavioral patterns," and added, "Remember that both the founding and the election were carried out relying solely on the people, not the Yeouido political formula." He continued, "We will not rely on conventional political engineering in the future," and said, "I hope good politicians will emerge from among the party officials."

In the afternoon, Jo appeared on MBC Radio’s 'Kwon Soon-pyo’s News High Kick' and shared his views on the speculation about the revival of the Presidential Office’s Civil Affairs Office.

Jo said, "They say they will revive the Civil Affairs Office under the name of the Legal Affairs Office, but they claim they will not assign the function of managing relatives within the Legal Affairs Office," and added, "Originally, the Civil Affairs Office was supposed to monitor the First Lady, but they say they will not give that function."

He continued, "It seems President Yoon Seok-yeol has thought, 'I need to control the prosecution,'" and added, "Currently, within the prosecution, there is a mood that if investigations are not conducted on President Yoon or First Lady Kim Geon-hee as issues arise, the entire prosecution organization will be disgraced and its investigative authority will truly be stripped."