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Korea Herald
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Conservative leadership race begins amid far-right push for power
South Korea's main opposition People Power Party is heading into a turbulent leadership race — with a far-right firebrand gaining ground and threatening to upend the party's future, while the party is still reeling from its June 3 presidential defeat. Kim Moon-soo, the presidential candidate who was labor minister in the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, declared his candidacy on Sunday in the party's Aug. 22 leadership election. In his announcement, Kim echoed far-right talking points, blaming the Lee Jae Myung administration for what he called a collapse of Korea's three branches of power and labeling Lee a 'criminal' and 'autocrat' — rhetoric popular among Yoon's most ardent supporters. Kim rose to prominence within pro-Yoon circles last year when he refused to apologize for the December martial law declaration during a parliamentary hearing — a rare show of defiance among Yoon's former Cabinet members, most of whom expressed regret under pressure. That act solidified his image as a faithful standard-bearer for Yoon's legacy. But even before Kim's announcement, attention had already turned to a far more polarizing figure: Jeon Han-gil, a far-right YouTube personality and former history lecturer. On Friday, Jeon suggested he would enter the race if no other Yoon-aligned candidate stepped forward, speaking in an interview with local broadcaster Channel A. Despite having no formal political experience or electoral record, Jeon has built a loyal following among hard-line conservatives through the dissemination of conspiracy theories — including allegations that the Democratic Party of Korea came to power through election fraud — and by calling on voters to rally behind candidates loyal to Yoon. Observers say Jeon's popularity stems from his perceived role as a megaphone for the party's most extreme supporters. 'He gives voice to the hardcore pro-Yoon base — and like it or not, that translates into real votes,' said a source who previously served on the People Power Party's June 3 campaign team. 'Other lawmakers stage sit-ins and nobody cares. But when Jeon speaks, his far-right remarks go viral. He's someone the party can no longer simply ignore.' On Saturday, Jeon further escalated his rhetoric, questioning whether he himself or Han Dong-hoon — the party's former leader — was the 'true leader of the conservative right.' He declared, 'We must take over the People Power Party,' signaling his intent to run and calling on tens of thousands of party members to unite behind a pro-Yoon candidate. The next day, Han — a key reformist voice who has emphasized the need for the party to distance itself from Yoon — issued a sharp response, warning against the normalization of extremism. 'Freedom of speech is not a license for hate and anti-intellectual extremism,' Han wrote on Facebook. 'Our party cannot become a joke — a white dwarf shrunk into a far-right sect that alienates the public and hands long-term power to the liberals.' Jeon's eligibility to run, however, remains in question. Under People Power Party rules, leadership candidates must have paid party dues for at least three months before registering. With registration set for July 30–31, Jeon — who joined on June 9 — falls short of this requirement. Still, some believe party leadership may bend the rules. 'The game of rules can change,' the same source said, noting that the party had recently attempted to replace its presidential candidate even after the final primary — referring to former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. Other prominent reform-minded figures have refrained from directly confronting Jeon, instead keeping their distance from the Yoon-aligned faction. Rep. Na Kyung-won, a former presidential primary contender and one-time front-runner for the party leadership, announced Sunday she would not run, citing responsibility for the party's recent electoral defeat. Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, another former presidential candidate who declared his bid for party leader earlier this month, reportedly had lunch with Han on Saturday — a meeting that sparked speculation of a centrist alliance. The discussion was widely seen as focusing more on how to navigate the party's internal discord than on coordinating a joint campaign. Meanwhile, the People Power Party's internal reform effort — once seen as a critical path to restoring public trust — is also being eclipsed by the leadership race. Officially launched on July 2 and led by Rep. Yoon Hee-sook, the reform committee proposed revising the party charter to include formal apologies for Yoon's martial law declaration and impeachment. The proposals are expected to be discussed at the party's emergency meeting on Monday, but they are also expected to face immediate internal backlash and remain unresolved.
Korea Herald
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Lee Jae Myung faces mounting criticism over minister picks
President Lee Jae Myung faces calls to cancel some ministerial picks as he moves to fill Cabinet posts, while all eyes are on whether Lee will override the criticism raised against some nominees. The conservative main opposition People Power Party's interim leader, Rep. Song Eon-seog, demanded that Lee not proceed with presidential nominations of at least two nominees at a closed-door meeting with President Lee and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's floor leader Rep. Kim Byung-kee, according to the People Power Party. There, Kim demanded that Lee approve all 16 minister nominees who completed the confirmation hearing over the past week. This came alongside the main opposition party's statement Sunday that the presidential nominations of Rep. Kang Sun-woo to lead the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and former Chungnam National University President Lee Jin-sook for Education Minister should be withdrawn. In South Korea, a president may proceed with the approval of their nominations for all Cabinet ministers once they have undergone a parliamentary confirmation hearing. The National Assembly is supposed to adopt confirmation hearing reports if the two rival parties agree on the presidential nomination, but they are not required for a president to proceed with his approval. Kang, a two-time lawmaker of the ruling party, is suspected of having abused her authority by asking her secretaries to do her personal chores. Lee is embroiled in allegations related to academic plagiarism and excessive spending on her children's education overseas, which allegedly involved a violation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The brewing controversy over Lee's nomination of Kang has drawn mixed reactions, even from within the ruling party. Rep. Jung Chung-rae, who openly expressed support for Kang by describing her as not only "a warmhearted mother and outstanding lawmaker" but also a "soon-to-be gender equality minister," has taken the lead in the primary to elect the new chair of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. Jung's contender and former party whip Rep. Park Chan-dae, on the other hand, called for prudence before the presidential confirmation of the matter. According to the presidential office, Lee was to make up his mind on his nominations following a presidential office closed-door briefing on Sunday; his final decision had yet to be announced as of press time. Meanwhile, such controversies appear to have had little impact on Lee's popularity. A poll by Gallup Korea showed Friday that Lee's job approval rating reached 64 percent, as responses hovered around the mid-60 percent range over the past month. Among those who disapproved of Lee's performance, only 11 percent cited his presidential nominations as the reason for their disapproval. Before Sunday, Lee approved the nominations of six ministers of the Cabinet. These are Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Koo Yoon-cheol, Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon, Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, Interior Minister Kim Jung-kwan and Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung. Prime Minister Kim Min-seok gained a final presidential confirmation on July 3. They were among the 16 ministerial nominees who underwent confirmation hearings throughout the previous week. Along with them, Lim Kwang-hyun, who was picked for the role of the chief of the tax authorities — a vice-ministerial level position — also went through the hearing. South Korea's Cabinet comprises 20 members, including a prime minister and 19 ministers. Among them, incumbent Agriculture Minister Song Mi-ryung, who had been serving in the role before President Lee took office, will not undergo a confirmation hearing. The two remaining nominees — Chae Hwi-young of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Kim Yun-duk of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport — have yet to go through confirmation hearings.
Korea Herald
2 days ago
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Unification Church, ex-PPP floor leader's offices raided in Kim Keon Hee probe
The special counsel team investigating various allegations against former first lady Kim Keon Hee on Friday conducted search and seizure operations of the Unification Church's facilities and offices of former People Power Party floor leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong. The raids were carried out in connection with Kim's alleged acceptance of a diamond necklace made by Graff worth some 60 million won ($43,000), and Chanel bags worth a combined 20 million won from a high-ranking church official surnamed Yoon in 2022. The church and Yoon had reportedly asked for several favors from the ex-first lady in return for the gifts, which were delivered through Jeon Seong-bae, a shaman widely known as Geon Jin. The favors allegedly included support for the church's overseas projects, its now-failed acquisition of broadcaster YTN, and an invitation to former President Yoon Suk Yeol's inauguration ceremony in 2022. The team led by prosecutor Min Joong-ki sent investigators to the church's global headquarters in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, and its Seoul headquarters in Yongsan-gu in the morning to secure related documents and computer files. Other locations raided on Friday included the residence of Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja in Gapyeong as well as two offices of People Power Party Rep. Kweon, located in the National Assembly in western Seoul and his constituency of Gangneung, Gangwon Province. The special counsel probe into the former first lady has recently expanded its investigation to cover suspicions that Han received the help of an unidentified aide of former President Yoon to derail the police investigation into an illegal gambling case involving the church's leadership. Han and some of the church's leadership members are accused of spending nearly 58 billion won of the church's funds on gambling in Las Vegas from 2008 to 2011. South Korean law does not allow its citizens to gamble at casinos, except in a few places approved by the government. The special counsel team recently raided a police station in Chuncheon, about 75 kilometers northeast of Seoul, to secure investigation records tied to Han and the church leadership's gambling case. Rep. Kweon's offices were raided due to allegations that he was one of the connections between the Unification Church and former President Yoon. Kweon allegedly asked Yoon to attend an event hosted by the Unification Ministry held in 2022.
Korea Herald
3 days ago
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Lee Jae Myung promises to back amendment to Constitution
On 77th Constitution Day, president asks secretaries to review redesignation as public holiday Marking the 77th anniversary of South Korea's Constitution on Thursday, President Lee Jae Myung expressed his commitment to a new amendment to the Constitution, stressing that it must be "citizen-centered." In a Facebook post, Lee said a newly amended Constitution, which would uphold the spirit of the Gwangju Democratic Uprising in May 1980 and encompass the greater fundamental rights of each citizen, the greater local autonomy and the curtailment of power through reforms, "must be a compass to lead the way of South Korea." The liberal president also thanked the people for lawfully overcoming the political crisis that stemmed from former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration in December. South Korea last amended the Constitution about four decades ago, effective in 1987. It was the ninth amendment in the country since its foundation on Aug. 15, 1948. Later on Thursday, Lee asked his secretaries to consider redesignating Constitution Day as a public holiday in a meeting he presided over at his office in Seoul. Nearly two decades after South Korea removed Constitution Day, which falls on July 17 each year, from the list of public holidays, lawmakers have pushed to designate the day as a full public holiday to shed light on the role of the Constitution in safeguarding democracy. Since Lee's inauguration on June 4, Reps. Kwak Sang-eon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and Kang Dae-sik of the main opposition People Power Party have each introduced revision bills aimed at adding Constitution Day to the list of public holidays, following its exclusion in 2008. Kwak and nine other lawmakers of three liberal parties proposed the redesignation on June 13, suggesting it could "boost the domestic economy and guarantee people's right to rest," and at the same time uphold the spirit of the Constitution. Kwak proposed a revision of the Act on Public Holidays to allow South Koreans to be granted the day off. Of the five national celebration days designated in South Korea, Constitution Day is the only one that is not also designated as a public holiday. On July 9, Kang and 10 other People Power Party members proposed a similar bill to revise the Act on Public Holidays, raising a need for Constitution Day to be redesignated. South Korea promulgated its first Constitution on July 17, 1949, and the day was designated as a holiday in 1950. The conservative Lee Myung-bak administration, however, delisted the day as a public holiday in 2008, amid calls to recover national productivity alongside the introduction of a five-day workweek in 2004. According to a recent report by the National Assembly Research Service, there have been 17 bills so far designed to reinstate Constitution Day as a public holiday since 2008. Constitution Day "holds great symbolic significance" in that a need to safeguard constitutional values has been in the limelight, and it therefore deserves to be redesignated as a public holiday, added the report released Monday. It also called for a social consensus on the matter, given that the redesignation could have a significant socioeconomic impact on South Korea.
Korea Herald
3 days ago
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Lee promises to back amendment to Constitution
On 77th Constitution Day, president asks secretaries to review redesignation as public holiday Marking the 77th anniversary of the South Korea's Constitution on Thursday, President Lee Jae Myung expressed his commitment to a new amendment, stressing that a new amendment to the Constitution must be "citizen-centered." In a Facebook post, Lee said a newly amended Constitution, which upholds the spirit of the Gwangju Uprising in May 1980, encompasses the greater fundamental rights of each citizen, the greater local autonomy and the curtailment of power through reforms "must be a compass to lead the way of South Korea." The liberal president also thanked the people for overcoming the political crisis that stemmed from former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration in December, within the boundaries of the Constitution. South Korea last amended the Constitution about four decades ago, effective in 1987. It was the ninth amendment in the country since its foundation on Aug. 15, 1948. Later on Thursday, Lee asked his secretaries to consider redesignating Constitution Day as a public holiday in a meeting he presided over at his office in Seoul. Nearly two decades after South Korea removed Constitution Day, which falls on July 17 each year, from the list of public holidays, lawmakers have again pushed to designate the day as a full public holiday to shed light on the role of the Constitution in safeguarding democracy. Since Lee's inauguration on June 4, Reps. Kwak Sang-eon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and Kang Dae-sik of the main opposition People Power Party have each introduced revision bills aimed at adding Constitution Day to the list of public holidays, following its exclusion in 2008. Kwak and nine other lawmakers of three liberal parties proposed the redesignation on June 13, suggesting it could "boost the domestic economy and guarantee people's right to rest," and at the same time uphold the spirit of the Constitution. Kwak proposed a revision of the Act on Public Holidays to allow South Koreans to be granted the day off. Of five national celebration days designated in South Korea, Constitution Day is the only among them that is not also designated as a public holiday. On July 9, Kang and 10 other People Power Party members proposed a similar bill to revise the Act on Public Holidays, raising a need for the Constitution Day to be redesignated. South Korea promulgated its first Constitution on July 17, 1949, and the day was designated as a holiday in 1950. The conservative Lee Myung-bak administration, however, delisted the day as a public holiday in 2008, amid calls to recover national productivity alongside the introduction of a five-day workweek in 2004. According to a recent report by the National Assembly Research Service, there have been 17 bills so far designed to reinstate Constitution Day as a public holiday since 2008. Constitution Day "holds great symbolic significance" in that a need to safeguard constitutional values has been in the limelight, and it therefore deserves to be redesignated as a public holiday, added the report released Monday. It also called for a social consensus on the matter, given that the redesignation could have significant socioeconomic impact on South Korea.
