(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Gyeong-joon and Choi Joo-seong = On the 20th, Kim Min-seok, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, nominated Rep. Yong-gi Yong-gi (re-elected, Hwaseong-jeong, Gyeonggi-do), who is in his 30s, and Kwon Mi-kyung, a woman, chairwoman of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and National Public Solidarity, as nominated top members.
Representative Kim announced the selection of the highest appointed members at the general meeting of lawmakers held at the National Assembly on this day.
Representative Jeon was appointed as the top member of the youth section, and Chairman Kwon was appointed as the top member of the labor section.
This appointment will be confirmed once it is approved by the Party Affairs Committee after a resolution by the Supreme Committee on the 21st.
Ahead of the August 17 National Convention, the Democratic Party reviewed the youth supreme council member system, in which one of the five elected supreme council members is separately elected by youth, but decided not to introduce it.
Accordingly, Representative Kim announced that he would nominate a top youth member for one of the nominated top committee members during the national convention.
In addition, he said, “We will revise the party constitution and rules to allow young people to enter (the leadership) as at least one elected top member.”
Regarding the failure to keep this promise at the general meeting that day, Representative Kim explained, "We were also concerned about the issue of voters' dual party affiliation (during the election process), and there was a contradiction in the election of youth chairpersons overlapping with voters and elected candidates, so we concluded that (electing youth supreme council members) was impossible."
The former lawmaker served as chairman of the party's National University Student Committee, standing vice-chairman of the policy committee, and senior vice-president of in-house communication.
Representative Kim said about assigning one of the nominated top members to the labor field, "The party has to (support) mega (project) growth, etc., so it appears to be business-friendly and growth-friendly," and added, "There is also a need to strengthen the labor field in preparation for polarization."
Chairman Kwon, who worked as a nurse at Yonsei Medical Center, served as chairman of the Severance Hospital Labor Union and was elected to the Seoul Metropolitan Council in 2014.
Regarding this appointment, CEO Kim also said, “We took into account the region and the number of men and women.”
Rep. Jeon is from Masan, South Gyeongsang Province, which is a poor region for the party, and Chairman Kwon is also from Samcheok, Gangwon Province, which has strong conservative tendencies.
If the two people are confirmed as nominated top members, three of the nine new leadership members will be women.
In response to Representative Kim's decision, Supreme Council member Choi Min-hee criticized on Facebook, "If the nomination of a designated Supreme Council member, which is a matter for resolution at the highest level, is suddenly made public at the general assembly without at least minimal consultation, will it be properly resolved?"
He then said, “During the national convention, Representative Kim promised that a young person would be the appointed top member and that the election would be through a primary election,” and requested, “Please reconsider the decision.”
