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| President Yoon Suk-yeol shakes hands with ruling People Power Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok during their luncheon at the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Friday. Yonhap |
Pro-Yoon lawmakers seek to establish private organization
By Nam Hyun-woo
Factional infighting is deepening in the ruling People Power Party (PPP), as lawmakers close to President Yoon Suk-yeol are attempting to form their own group within the party, while questioning PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok's role in the string of electoral victories in recent months.
The clash is interpreted as an internal power struggle, with pro-Yoon lawmakers seeking to enhance their influence in the party and take over its leadership, in order to claim the rights to recommend candidates for the 2024 general elections.
PPP floor leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong said in a radio interview Friday he opposed the formation of a lawmakers' group that can be seen as a faction within the party.
"There are official consultative bodies between the government and the party," Kweon said. "We should refrain from forming a group that can be misunderstood as an additional government-party consultative body."
Kweon was referring to a recent move to form a policy study group called "Mindeulle" by some pro-Yoon lawmakers. On Thursday, PPP Reps. Lee Chul-gyu and Lee Yong-ho sent PPP lawmakers official invitations to the group, with a plan to launch it, June 15.
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| People Power Party floor leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, center, speaks during a party meeting at the National Assembly on Yeouido, Seoul, Friday. Joint Press Corps |
Despite the lawmakers' explanation that it is a policy study group, it is widely viewed as a faction of Yoon loyalists. Rep. Chang Je-won, former chief of staff to President Yoon when he was president-elect, is leading the group, while Lee Chul-gyu, Lee Yong-ho and other lawmakers who worked on Yoon's presidential transition committee are also participating.
The group has been a thorny issue for the party throughout this week, as concerns were raised that pro-Yoon lawmakers are creating their own faction. Chairman Lee, who has been struggling with pro-Yoon lawmakers since his conflict with Yoon during the presidential election campaign, slammed the group as "an unofficial group aimed at boasting members' influence."
Along with the strife over Mindeulle, Lee is in conflict with PPP Rep. Chung Jin-suk, who criticized Lee's recent trip to Ukraine as "politics for his own sake." Chung also criticized the chairman's plan to set up "an innovation committee" within the party and reform the party's recommendation system for proportional lawmakers in the 2024 general elections.
On June 6, Chung, who is also viewed as a pro-Yoon lawmaker, fired a salvo that "Lee should think about what will be the ruling party's role for the success of the Yoon administration before talking about reforms or Ukraine."
While they were trading barbs to refute each other, watchers said the recent conflicts are part of the Yoon loyalists' efforts to strengthen their presence in the party by exploiting the rationale of supporting the stable start of the Yoon administration.
Amid the conflicts, President Yoon had a luncheon with Chairman Lee, floor leader Kweon and other leaders of the party, calling for cooperation between the government and the party. Before having the luncheon, however, Yoon told reporters that he "is the nation's leader, not the party's" and "will watch how the situation unfolds."
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| People Power Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok, center, answers reporters' questions at Incheon International Airport, Thursday, after returning from his week-long visit to Ukraine. Joint Press Corps |
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