'Defense Counsel for President Lee' People Power Party Nomination Committee Member Voluntarily Resigns...Party to Form Verification Team

Nomination committee member who formerly served as a headquarters chief in the Lee Jaemyung campaign to be subject to further discussion

A nomination committee member of the People Power Party who had served as defense counsel in President Lee Jaemyung's Public Official Election Act violation case has tendered his resignation. The People Power Party decided to set up a new "verification team" to respond by conducting thorough vetting in relation to party posts.

Yonhap News Agency

Park Sunghoon, chief spokesperson of the People Power Party, met with reporters immediately after the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 23rd and said, "Nomination committee member Hwang Surim expressed his intention to voluntarily resign, taking into comprehensive consideration the various negative reactions that have been raised since his appointment."

Concerns had been raised among the party's support base after it emerged that Hwang had served as defense counsel in the first-instance trial in 2019 concerning then-Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jaemyung's Public Official Election Act violation. Separately from Hwang, another nomination committee member, Kim Boram, a professor at Seokyeong University, is also under scrutiny over past activities. It became known that during the 2022 presidential election, Kim served as head of the Youth Headquarters of the Seoul Metropolitan Chapter in candidate Lee Jaemyung's campaign.

Regarding this, the nomination committee explained, "He had left the party some time ago," adding, "There have been many cases in politics where people have changed party affiliation according to their beliefs and convictions and have gone on to play a bigger role." Spokesperson Park added, "As for nomination committee member Kim Boram, we decided to determine his future position after hearing the opinion of nomination committee chairperson Lee Junghyun and discussing it with the Supreme Council members."

In response, the People Power Party decided to form a verification team to strengthen vetting in future personnel selections, including for the nomination committee. Spokesperson Park said, "There will be various committees created within the party going forward, and this is to prevent the unfortunate situation of problematic figures being appointed as committee members during the formation process," adding, "We will comprehensively consider their qualifications, loyalty to the party, public remarks, and past activities."

Meanwhile, at the Supreme Council meeting that day, Assemblyman Kwak Gyutaek, chair of the Legal Advisory Committee, and Kim Youngil, vice chair of the Central Youth Committee, were additionally appointed as central party nomination committee members. With regard to the appointment of Vice Chair Kim, spokesperson Park explained that, as Representative Jang Donghyuk has mentioned, it is intended to reflect the voices of young people in the nomination process.