Jo Jeonghun: "If Korea Had Replied to Mrs. Kim's Text, It Would Have Gained 20 More Seats in the General Election"

Mrs. Kim's Text Message Reported "Felt Deep Emotion"
If It Led to an Apology, Election Results Might Have Changed
No Reason to Hold Back in the Election White Paper Content

Jo Jung-hoon, Chairman of the People Power Party's General Election White Paper Special Committee, is speaking at the 3rd General Election White Paper Special Committee meeting held at the party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 14th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Han Dong-hoon, the People Power Party's candidate for party leader, did not respond to a text message from Kim Geon-hee, and Jo Jung-hoon, chairman of the People Power Party's general election white paper task force, claimed, "If he had replied to the text and even elicited an apology from Mrs. Kim, we could have gained 20 more seats."

On the 9th, Jo said on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' regarding the text message from Mrs. Kim released the previous day, "I felt a deep sincerity," adding, "Saying that the text message does not feel genuine means a serious lack of empathy and communication skills."

Jo stated that the text message likely became a crucial turning point in the last general election. He said, "No one can deny that the luxury bag issue was important in the election," and that the election results would have been different depending on whether the text was replied to. He added, "If I had been the head of the election campaign headquarters, I would have considered this text message a great opportunity," and said, "We would have put our heads together to discuss how to persuade the public of Mrs. Kim's apology with minimal side effects."

Regarding the last general election, he also expressed regret about the relationship between the party and the government. Although the government caused issues that negatively affected low national approval ratings, how the party responded was also an important matter. Jo said, "Whether candidate Han and the campaign headquarters remained silent on the issue or tried but the government or the presidential office did not accept it is a task that must be resolved during the review of this general election." However, he firmly stated that a conclusion has not yet been reached on including this content in the election white paper.

Meanwhile, Jo also said he is not interested in what content will be included in the white paper or which candidate it will favor. He emphasized, "The important issue is how to become a party that can win," and added, "There is no bright future without reflection on the past."