Woo Sang-ho: "Party leader's involvement in the race for 2nd in power hierarchy, the National Assembly Speaker election, is wrong"

In the Democratic Party of Korea's Speaker of the National Assembly election, criticism emerged internally calling the so-called 'traffic arrangement' theory?where Representative Jo Jeong-sik and Representative Jeong Seong-ho allegedly withdrew after coordination led by Floor Leader Park Chan-dae and others?a "serious problem." It is considered inappropriate to talk about 'who was involved' regarding candidates for the Speaker, who are elected by members of a constitutional institution.

On the 13th, Representative Woo Sang-ho of the Democratic Party said in an interview with CBS Radio that the withdrawal of the two representatives, which narrowed the Speaker race down to Representative Chu Mi-ae and Representative Woo Won-shik, made him feel a sense of self-disgust as "senior lawmakers with five or six terms either should not have run from the start or should not have dropped out midway." He added, "If, as reported, these two withdrew upon the recommendation of Floor Leader Park or Representative Lee Jae-myung or those close to them, I think it is a serious problem."

Woo Sang-ho, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker. / Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

Representative Woo said, "The Speaker election is at least the second highest position in the power hierarchy of the Republic of Korea," and added, "The Democratic Party is a party that values bottom-up nominations and internal democracy, so it left the decision of candidates to the judgment of the members. It is inappropriate for the party leader or any leader to be involved in arranging the lineup."

He continued, "It seems wrong for the party leader or floor leader to decide the second highest position in the power hierarchy of the Republic of Korea," and said, "If the two (Representative Jo and Representative Jeong) found it difficult and dropped out because they thought they could not continue the race, there would be no problem. But according to media reports, there are repeated stories about who was involved, who conveyed messages, and who recommended the candidates to withdraw for various reasons, which is very inappropriate."

Criticism was also raised regarding Representative Chu's introduction of the fact that "(Representative Lee) said, 'I hope you do well,'" which conveyed Lee's intentions. Representative Woo said, "Those who run for Speaker should refrain from commenting on various political issues."

He mentioned that unlike other elections, there were no speeches or debates in the Speaker election and said, "There were various efforts and wisdom to prevent this process of electing the second highest position in the national hierarchy of the Republic of Korea from appearing like a typical internal party election," adding, "Since it is a position that leads the National Assembly, appropriate process management is necessary."