The ruling People Power Party on Tuesday nominated five-term lawmaker and former Unification Minister Kwon Young-se to helm its emergency leadership committee, which was launched after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s Dec. 14 impeachment.
People Power Party Floor Leader Kweon Seong-dong announced the decision during a general meeting of lawmakers in the morning, stressing that the new committee chair is tasked with “rebuilding and reforming” the conservative party.
“I announce to the people (the nomination) of Rep. Kwon Young-se as candidate for our emergency leadership committee chair, who will lead the task of rebuilding and reforming the party,” Kweon said during the meeting.
“Kwon has been elected as a lawmaker in Seoul and nearby areas for five terms and is recognized for his leadership,” he added.
Kweon said that it is “now more important than ever” to bring harmony within the party and that the new committee has to lead the party into a phase of unification and change.
Kwon’s nomination will be confirmed at the party’s national committee meeting scheduled for Monday.
Kwon’s nomination comes eight days after former Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon stepped down from his role as the People Power Party leader.
Han resigned on Dec. 16 after serving nearly five months as the party leader, amid mounting pressure from several lawmakers within his own party who had asked him to take responsibility for Yoon’s impeachment. He had pushed for Yoon's "orderly resignation" and later for ruling party lawmakers to vote in favor of impeachment in the days leading up to the parliamentary vote on Dec. 14. The impeachment motion against Yoon, introduced by the opposition coalition, passed the Assembly and has effectively suspended Yoon's presidential powers.
The ruling party’s emergency leadership committee was launched after all five elected members of the ruling party's supreme council resigned in the days following Yoon’s impeachment. Han cited the “collapse” of the supreme council as a key reason behind his resignation, saying it had made it impossible to carry out his duties.
In the morning intraparty meeting, Kweon criticized the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea’s announcement to launch the process of impeaching acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.
The main opposition in recent weeks has called for Han Duck-soo to approve two bills mandating separate special counsel probes into President Yoon Suk Yeol’s insurrection allegations tied to his botched martial law imposition on Dec. 3 and multiple scandals surrounding first lady Kim Keon Hee, including her alleged involvement in a stock manipulation case. The acting president would face impeachment if he rejects the bills, they added.
Kweon labeled the main opposition’s threats as “thug-like” and an attempt “to bring an end to the conservative right wing.”
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
