"All Requests from Kim Moonsu's Side for Secretary-General and Campaign Committee Accepted"
If Injunction Is Approved, Kim Moonsu Remains the Candidate
On May 9, Lee Yangsoo, Secretary-General of the People Power Party, refuted the claims made by Kim Moonsu, the party's presidential candidate, stating, "It is completely untrue that we tried to amend the party constitution and regulations to oust Kim Moonsu."
At a press briefing held at the National Assembly that afternoon, Lee said, "The public opinion poll being conducted today is part of the party's own primary roadmap. We have never once discussed or decided in a meeting to use this as a means to remove a candidate."
Earlier that morning, during a parliamentary meeting of the People Power Party, candidate Kim claimed that the party leadership was attempting to remove him in order to nominate former Prime Minister Han Ducksoo as the presidential candidate.
However, Lee did not rule out the possibility of replacing the candidate, stating, "If such an opinion is reached at today's parliamentary meeting or at the Emergency Response Committee, there is a possibility that it could happen."
He further explained that if the court approves the injunction request filed by Kim's camp to halt the National Committee and Party Convention, "we will not be able to hold the National Committee, so Kim will remain the candidate." If the injunction is dismissed by the court, "the party will be able to proceed with additional procedures," he said.
Regarding the possibility of replacing the candidate, Lee stated, "Nothing has been decided at this time." He added, "If Kim scores higher in the unification poll, there will be no reason to replace the candidate. If former Prime Minister Han Ducksoo scores higher, whether or not to proceed with the next steps will be determined by the collective intelligence of the Emergency Response Committee."
Lee also said, "Our top priority is to stand against the lawless Lee Jaemyung faction, so I have not refuted every point Kim has raised that may be based on misunderstandings." However, he added, "I am explaining this as a fact-check because misunderstandings can lead to further misunderstandings and deepen mistrust," as he rebutted Kim's claims one by one.
Regarding the claim that just three hours after the party convention, the Emergency Response Committee Chair, Floor Leader, and Secretary-General visited Kim to request unification, Lee said, "It is true that we met." He explained, "We proposed that candidates who ran in the primary, such as former leader Han Donghoon, serve as campaign committee chairs, and Kim responded, 'Understood.'" He also stated that Kim's request to replace the Secretary-General with People Power Party lawmaker Jang Donghyuk was accepted.
In response to Kim's camp's claim that the party did not provide an office for the candidate, Lee said, "I instructed the Director General of Administration to clean up the office so the candidate could use it, and to appoint staff as the candidate wished." He explained, "The appointments were not made because lawmaker Jang Donghyuk did not take the position."
Regarding the claim that the party arranged former Prime Minister Han's schedule, Lee said, "There has never been any interaction between Han's camp and the party leadership." He clarified, "The only thing we did was reserve a studio for a photo shoot in case we needed to make campaign materials quickly if unification was achieved." He added, "We reported everything to lawmakers Park Sooyoung and Jang Donghyuk from Kim's camp, so there is no room for misunderstanding."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
