With Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon surviving the appeal, competition for the next election intensified in the conservative camp, and People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk, Mayor Oh, and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon gathered in Yeouido on the 3rd to take the lead on the issue.
Representative Jang, who has taken a hard-line right-wing stance, highlighted the issue of people's livelihood by directly announcing the review direction of next year's government budget, and Mayor Oh attended a debate hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Party and the Seoul Metropolitan Government and emphasized the need for 'unification of conservatives.'
One lawmaker said, ‘We focused on promoting a bottom-up nomination agenda.
◇ Oh Se-hoon said at a discussion meeting with 38 active lawmakers, “I will meet anyone.”
Mayor Oh attended the 'World Heritage Preservation and the Future of the City, Finding a Path to Coexistence' debate hosted by the People Power Party Seoul Party at the National Assembly Hall at 10 am on this day.
This is Mayor Oh's first visit to the National Assembly since he was acquitted of violating the Political Fund Act in an appeals trial on the 23rd of last month.
At the event venue, which was located just 130 steps away from Rep. Han Dong-hoon's event venue, 38 out of 109 People Power Party members attended. As the event was held in the smallest of the seminar rooms in the Assembly Hall, the venue was so crowded that there was no room to move.
In addition to the lawmakers who have constituencies in Seoul, including Kwon Young-se, Na Kyung-won, Jo Eun-hee, Jo Jeong-hoon, Shin Dong-wook, Kim Jae-seop, Seo Myeong-ok, and Park Su-min, other lawmakers present at the event included Lee Jong-bae, Jo Bae-sook, Seong Il-jong, Shin Seong-beom, Kim Seok-gi, Kim Jeong-jae, Lee Man-hee, Kim Mi-ae, Kwon Young-jin, Choi Su-jin, Han Ji-ah, Park Sang-woong, Kim So-hee, Choi Bo-yoon, Lee Dal-hee, and Park Jun-tae.
In particular, Representative Jang Dong-hyuk and floor leader Jeong Jeong-sik were present, and there was even talk of "Has a general meeting of lawmakers been held?"
Mayor Oh also emphasized the issue of conservative unity on this day.
After attending the debate on this day, he met with reporters and raised his voice, saying, "There is no one we cannot meet and no one we cannot join together with. If we lose in the next general election, there is a possibility that this ruthless regime that does not even recognize the separation of powers will be extended again."
He continued, "In order for that to not happen, we need to create an atmosphere within the party where we can really gather all of our strength," and added, "I will visit anyone in our party, including Rep. Han, and listen to their opinions in the future."
◇ Korea “Distortion of party power structure, legislation of bottom-up nomination”… Lawmakers’ ‘duplicate attendance’ also attracts attention
Rep. Han Dong-hoon also held a debate on the topic of ‘political party reform, what to do and how to do it’ at the National Assembly Hall at 9:30 a.m. on this day, a similar time zone as Mayor Oh.
At the event, a lawmaker said, “At this point, party reform is political reform,” and added, “With the current distorted structure, depending on who is in power, people who can really win cannot run in the election, and strange people stand up. Reforming that is party reform.”
He continued, “That structure must be broken down institutionally,” and “In order to guarantee predictability (of nominations), ‘bottom-up nominations’ must be legislated for political parties that operate with subsidies from the public.”
Representative Han has been suggesting bottom-up nomination as a political reform agenda since last July.
In the political world, there is an analysis that a message of "don't worry" was sent to senior figures who are concerned that there will be a nomination disadvantage if a lawmaker joins the People Power Party and takes power ahead of the 2028 general election, which is about a year and five months away.
The debate on this day attracted attention as 5-term People Power Party lawmaker Kim Ki-hyun and Yoon Sang-hyun were named as co-hosts, and 6-term lawmaker Joo Ho-young gave a congratulatory speech.
One lawmaker expressed his friendliness by referring to them as “seniors.”
Rep. Kim revealed the background to his participation, saying, “Rep. Han called me and asked me to join him, so I got involved,” and Rep. Yoon added, “We need a grand unification of conservatives and BTS (Band, Together, Stronger) solidarity,” adding support to Rep. Han’s reinstatement.
Rep. Joo said, "People who are loyal to the party leader are generally somewhat lacking. People who do well do not bow their heads and beg for nomination..." This gave rise to the interpretation that it was aimed at the party faction of Representative Jang's system.
At the site, 20 People Power Party lawmakers (counted by the Assemblyman's office), including close (pro-Han Dong-hoon) lawmakers Park Jeong-ha, Bae Hyun-jin, Kim Hyeong-dong, Ko Dong-jin, Ahn Sang-hoon, Han Ji-ah, Kim Geon, and Woo Jae-jun, as well as Assemblymen Cho Eun-hee and Kwon Young-jin, who are close to Mayor Oh, as well as Assemblyman Seok-gi Kim, Man-hee Lee, Seong-beom Shin, and Myung-ok Seo, and Supreme Council Member Yang Hyang-ja were present.
About 10 members of the People Power Party attended the event held by Representative Han and Mayor Oh.
Furthermore, Rep. Myung-ok Seo also participated in a debate held by party factions attended by Representative Jang.
◇ Jang Dong-hyuk highlights people’s livelihood issues… Gestures towards Oh Se-hoon and coldness towards Han Dong-hoon
Representative Jang announced the People Power Party's budget plan for next year at the central party headquarters in Yeouido this morning.
At this meeting, he said, "The People Power Party will absolutely prevent the budget runaway and waste of taxpayers' money by the Lee Jae-myung administration, which is putting the Republic of Korea in debt," and announced a plan to increase the budget for people's livelihood.
The National Assembly's budget review is under the jurisdiction of the National Assembly, so the floor leader usually makes related announcements. Nevertheless, there is an interpretation that the fact that Representative Jang personally revealed the party budget was intended to highlight the image of 'taking care of the people's livelihood'.
Prior to this, he attended the ‘Policy Debate for Healthy Insurance Recruitment Order and Consumer Protection’ hosted by Senior Spokesperson Park Seong-hoon. This event started at the same time as a debate led by a lawmaker.
On this day, Representative Jang also attended the National Assembly debate hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, attended by Mayor Oh, and delivered a congratulatory speech.
He said, “I hope that this debate will serve as a starting point and foundation for the party and Seoul City to jointly solve and think together about the problems in the lives of the people.”
On the other hand, he maintained his existing 'opposition' stance on the issue of congressman Han's reinstatement.
Representative Jang met with reporters after announcing the budget and was asked about the grand conservative unification, saying, "It is against the essence to increase conflict through integration and solidarity."
