Choo Kyung-ho Returns as Floor Leader After Five Days: "I Will Approach This Desperately and Fiercely"

On the 29th, five days after expressing his intention to resign, Choo Kyung-ho, the floor leader of the People Power Party, announced that he would return to work.

Chu Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party who had expressed his intention to resign, is answering reporters' questions after arriving at the Incheon Port Coastal Passenger Terminal in Jung-gu, Incheon on the afternoon of the 27th. / Photo by Yonhap News

In a statement released that day, Floor Leader Choo said, "I will return to the position of floor leader of the People Power Party," adding, "For the stabilization of people’s livelihoods and the overthrow of the Democratic Party’s parliamentary dictatorship, I will engage with a spirit of relentless determination and perseverance, working fiercely and intensely."

He continued, "I will restore the National Assembly to the people, not as a playground for the Democratic Party," and added, "From now on, the offices of People Power Party lawmakers will maintain a 24-hour burning spirit, and I will work sincerely."

Floor Leader Choo had expressed his intention to resign on the 24th, taking responsibility for the breakdown of negotiations over the organization of the National Assembly, and the People Power Party resolved to reaffirm confidence in him at a party meeting on the 27th.

Choo said, "My initial judgment was that by stepping down as floor leader, I would bear the heavy weight of responsibility," but "after repeated deep consideration prompted by the unanimous call from the party and lawmakers to return over the past few days, I have made my decision."

Floor Leader Choo is expected to attend the high-level party-government council meeting scheduled as early as the 30th. The meeting will discuss measures to handle the Hwaseong fire and the economic policy direction for the second half of the year.