As Conflicts Deepen, Momentum for Livelihood Efforts Fades
Choo Kyung-ho Calls for a "Cooling-Off Period" to Mediate
But Tensions Between Pro-Yoon and Pro-Han Factions Remain Hard to Resolve
Han Dong-hoon, the leader of the People Power Party, is intensifying his schedule covering various livelihood issues including youth, elderly, women, virtual assets, and science. Despite conflicts between the pro-Yoon and pro-Han factions caused by controversies on the party member bulletin board, his actions are interpreted as a move to not cede the initiative on livelihood issues to the opposition party. However, the longer the internal strife within the People Power Party continues, the more likely it is that Han’s momentum on livelihood efforts will weaken.
On the morning of the 29th, Han attended a policy talk concert titled "The Future of Korea Drawn by the Voices of Youth" at a cafe in Mapo-gu, Seoul, where he mentioned institutional reforms such as extending the retirement age and pension reform, expressing his willingness to gather opinions by saying, "I think the voices of young people need to be reflected a lot."
Earlier, on the 27th, Han attended a policy debate on "Issues and Tasks of Retirement Age Extension" hosted by the Party’s Special Committee on Closing the Gap, where he emphasized a "gradual extension of the retirement age" to increase the legal retirement age from the current 60 to 65.
Han is also scheduled to attend a policy debate titled "How Far Has the Development of AI Pilot Unmanned Combat Aircraft Come?" hosted by the Aerospace Industry Development Forum at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building in the afternoon of the same day.
Recently, Han has been repeatedly attending discussions and forums related to livelihood and economic issues such as retirement age extension and the Digital Asset Token Securities Issuance (STO) forum, continuing his schedule to study livelihood and policy matters.
However, as conflicts within the party have intensified due to the party member bulletin board controversy, attention has shifted from policy to political strife, causing Han’s efforts to be overshadowed and raising concerns that the People Power Party might lose the initiative on livelihood issues to the Democratic Party of Korea.
The party member bulletin board controversy stems from claims that numerous posts defaming the president and first lady were made under Han’s and his family members’ names, which has been a major source of internal conflict throughout this month. Some within the pro-Han faction have even suggested that dissenting votes might increase in the re-vote on the special investigation law for Kim Geon-hee scheduled for the 10th of next month.
In response, on the 28th, Floor Leader Choo Kyung-ho intervened at a closed-door party meeting, urging to "take a cooling-off period and allow time to reflect" regarding the party member bulletin board issue. However, some figures have expressed their conflicts again through media interviews, making it difficult to resolve the situation easily.
Kim Jong-hyuk, a Supreme Council member, said on YTN Radio the previous day, "Is a cooling-off period enough to solve this issue?" He added, "Last time, about four dissenting votes appeared. At that time, Han called each lawmaker saying, 'We must block it because it is the party’s official stance,' but dissenting votes still occurred," predicting that "(the party member bulletin board controversy) is unlikely to have no impact."
On the same day, People Power Party lawmaker Cho Jung-hoon appeared on CBS Radio and pointed out, "If you connect the party member bulletin board controversy with the upcoming re-vote on the special investigation law for Kim Geon-hee, then you are acting like the opposition leader, not the ruling party leader," adding, "It’s not about misconduct; couples can have fights. But that’s done within the household, not dragged into court to end it."
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