Park Ji-won "Woo Won-sik Upset, Smooth Road for Lee Jae-myung's Re-election"

Park Ji-won, a former head of the National Intelligence Service during the Moon Jae-in administration and the elected member of the Democratic Party of Korea (representing Jeonnam Haenam·Wando·Jindo), evaluated the results of the party’s Speaker of the National Assembly election on the 20th by saying, “A smooth path has been paved for Lee Jae-myung’s reappointment as party leader.”

Park Ji-won, elected member of the Democratic Party of Korea (Jeonnam Haenam·Wando·Jindo), who served as the Director of the National Intelligence Service during the Moon Jae-in administration.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

In an interview with CBS Radio’s 'Kim Hyun-jung’s News Show' on the same day, Park explained that the reason Democratic Party lawmakers chose candidate Woo Won-sik was because “the Democratic Party is healthy.”

He said, “The media worried that the Democratic Party was dominated by ‘Myeong-sim’ (Lee Jae-myung’s supporters) and the People Power Party by ‘Yun-sim’ (Yoon Suk-yeol’s supporters). However, within the Democratic Party, Woo Won-sik is a Myeong-sim supporter but less so, and his election was seen as a sign of the party’s health. This is actually good for Leader Lee as well.”

He added, “Honestly, if party positions, floor leader, and the Speaker of the National Assembly were all decided strictly reflecting Myeong-sim and proceeded in a swift and uniform manner, there would be no diversity.”

Regarding the intense reactions from some hardline supporters within the party, he also expressed concern. He said, “Leader Lee is meeting with party members in places like Gwangju and Daejeon to calm them down, so the situation should settle within a few days,” and emphasized, “While we respect the temporary expression of anger from the Democratic Party’s hardline members, as Leader Lee said, please endure and continue to support the Democratic Party.”

Meanwhile, Park announced his intention to join the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee in the 22nd National Assembly. He stated, “You should know well that when the new National Assembly is formed, Park Ji-won will go to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee,” and added, “I will summon the Prosecutor General (Lee Won-seok) and the Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office (Lee Chang-soo) to the committee.”