On the 19th, People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk criticized President Lee Jae-myung's re-mentioned discussion of constitutional amendments after it became known that he had a golf meeting with leading lawmakers of his own party, saying, "This is an attempt to divide and divide the opposition party to achieve the constitutional amendment for a second term that he wants."
Representative Jang appeared on Pen & Mike's YouTube channel on this day and said, "He called leading opposition party members and virtually held a golf meeting secretly, and at some point, he revealed it to the surface and borrowed the power and mouth of opposition party members to first bring out a constitutional amendment for a second term. This is neither normal nor desirable."
At the same time, he raised his voice, saying, "Not even a passing dog would believe that a person who 'mortgaged his money' because he did not want to lose even a penny would obediently shorten his term and amend the Constitution for the future of the Republic of Korea." He added, "He is saying, 'I will give up one year of my term, so please give me 8 years.' This president himself is an obstacle blocking the constitutional amendment."
Representative Jang also expressed his disappointment towards the senior members of the party who spoke about his resignation, including those who attended the golf meeting with President Lee.
He criticized, “The Lee Jae-myeong administration and the Democratic Party, who are playing golf and insisting on amending the Constitution while dreaming of a second term, when it is not easy to fight against the Democratic Party, and how Jang Dong-hyuk is going to win the general election by saying that he will lose the general election and talking about resigning every day when the people’s livelihood is being destroyed.”
He added, “Considering my right to nominate, if I only focus on changing the party leader and leadership because it is not feasible, party members, supporters, and the public will all be disappointed.”
Representative Jang also said, "The times when (the People Power Party) has won the general election so far is when the seniors made sacrifices. It was when they boldly replaced and reorganized the incumbents," and added, "If the seniors declare not to run and say that they will make sacrifices so that young talents can come in and change the party into a new party that can fight, we will be able to get much better results in the next general election."
Representative Jang, who will soon celebrate his first anniversary in office, also emphasized that "now is the right time and the last time to bring about proper change" in relation to his recent announcement of a policy to replace the chairman of the party council with a party member-centered party theory.
Representative Jang explained, “We will replace the party council chairmen who do not work according to the party constitution and rules and those who will not be elected in the next general election with those who will be elected. We will return that decision-making authority to the party members rather than the party representative.”
Representative Jang emphasized 'discipline' for lawmakers who are undergoing disciplinary proceedings at the party's Central Ethics Committee.
Regarding Rep. Seo Beom-soo, he said, "The 'turnaround kick' statement was an incident that showed the public what our party's lawmakers think about a serious issue. The victim's request for leniency is an opinion worthy of reference, but appropriate measures must be taken to reflect the harm done to the party. It is about establishing discipline to prevent the same thing from repeating itself."
Regarding Rep. Kwon Young-jin, he also said, “The issue of grabbing the floor leader by the collar is a matter of party discipline.”
Meanwhile, regarding the recent election of former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok as the new representative of the Democratic Party, Representative Jang said, "Representative Kim achieved this with the help of the President, but as he repays the debt he owes, his political position will narrow and he will have no choice but to distance himself from the party members and the people. With the Democratic Party's traditional supporters turning away, it is unclear whether he will continue to join hands with the President until the end, and at some point, he will have no choice but to take a different path."
