[Joo Young-jin's News Briefing]
When citing this interview, please credit the program name 'SBS <News Briefing>'. SBS holds the copyright.
■ Broadcast: SBS <News Briefing> Mon–Fri (14:00–15:20)
■ Host: Anchor Joo Young-jin
■ Guest: Kim Hyung-nam, Former Democratic Party Supreme Council Candidate
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● Interview with Former Democratic Party Supreme Council Candidate Kim Hyung-nam
"A farmer cannot blame the field... Must carry persuasive power as a youth politician"
"Restoring youth expectations is the key task of the new leadership"
"The Democratic Party is failing to clearly present its goal"
"People must be able to acquire housing without taking out huge loans"
"I believe housing supply is possible by utilizing the outskirts of Yongsan Park"
"Tax cuts apply to the vast majority of houses in Seoul... Propaganda and facts must be distinguished"
"Tenants' housing burden is rising... Democratic Party must present a blueprint"
"The demographic space the Democratic Party must expand into is youth in their 20s and 30s"
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▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: I remember interviewing you in the early stages of the Democratic Party national convention when you ran as a candidate for the Supreme Council, and now the convention has concluded. As President Lee Jae-myung also mentioned, the approval rating for the Democratic Party and President Lee Jae-myung among people in their 20s and 30s has dropped significantly, and there is a mood of taking this very seriously. We have invited youth politician Kim Hyung-nam, former candidate for the Democratic Party Supreme Council, to hear his thoughts today. Welcome.
▶ Kim Hyung-nam / Former Democratic Party Supreme Council Candidate: Hello.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: How have you been? What did you do during the national convention?
▶ Kim Hyung-nam / Former Democratic Party Supreme Council Candidate: After the preliminary primary during the convention, I actively worked on forming policy agreements with other candidates who advanced to the main race so that they could carry forward the promises I made to party members. Many candidates responded favorably, so I think we should work well together with the new leadership going forward.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Kim Min-seok has now become the party leader. At today's meeting, Senior Supreme Council Member Choi Min-hee also reportedly said it would be good to select a capable youth supreme council member. What are your thoughts? Do you see yourself joining this time as a youth supreme council member? Since talk is circulating within the party, I assume you might have heard various things.
▶ Kim Hyung-nam / Former Democratic Party Supreme Council Candidate: In fact, the youth supreme council member refers to one appointed supreme council position. While who takes the seat and how is important, I think the important point is that the Supreme Council is currently looking into youth issues with great focus. In my case, I personally ran in the national convention and spoke about how our party needs to present an updated progressive worldview to the 2030 generation. If given any opportunity to play a role in that area, I am determined to work toward the continuous progressive update of our party.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: You ran for the Supreme Council this time, and candidate Kim Bomi ran for party leader, but all the youth candidates were eliminated as party members felt they still need to gain more experience, right? Did you feel a sort of barrier? Or did you expect and prepare for that when challenging, and plan to keep challenging in the future?
▶ Kim Hyung-nam / Former Democratic Party Supreme Council Candidate: A farmer cannot blame the field, can he? It is a well-known fact that the barrier to entry is unfavorable for political newcomers right now, but I do not think everything is due to external circumstances. While various personal preparations are also necessary, when a new figure emerges to enter politics, there must be a process of persuading party members and voters about what new changes will be made and what kind of society we want to build, and one must gain recognition through that process. I believe I went through this convention as the first step to continue walking down that path.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: The Democratic Party has made a fresh start with a new leadership structure. If the party leadership were to ask you, "What policy should we pursue first to show youth in their 20s and 30s that 'our party will pursue these policies for you, or rather, together with you'?", what would you recommend they promote first?
▶ Kim Hyung-nam / Former Democratic Party Supreme Council Candidate: I think there are very long-standing questions facing our society today, such as the pension issue and labor reform issues. I believe this leadership needs to take time to deliberate on how to redesign societal standards from scratch to fit our changed society. Right now, the party's youth approval ratings continue to decline. I think many young people are wondering what kind of world the Democratic Party actually wants to create, and what goals and pathways it has. Because answers are not being provided, expectations are also declining. In the early days of the Lee Jae-myung administration, wasn't youth approval high? I think the most critical task for this leadership is how to restore that sense of expectation.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: This question comes up repeatedly, but why are people in their 20s and 30s supporting the Democratic Party and President Lee Jae-myung less? It seems like efforts are being made, right? But the view raised here is that to the younger generation, the Democratic Party has already become an establishment party. Furthermore, the 2030 generation never witnessed the era when the Democratic Party took to the streets to raise fists, chant slogans, and fight alongside citizens, so they have only seen the Democratic Party as an establishment party. What are your thoughts on this?
▶ Kim Hyung-nam / Former Democratic Party Supreme Council Candidate: In politics, I believe what matters is asking accurate questions and giving careful answers. In terms of whether we are asking accurate questions, I cannot help but admit there were shortcomings. When we repeatedly say, "We will listen to the voices of youth," asking things like "Tell us everything you need" or "What is difficult these days?" is not an accurate question. It is very vague. For instance, if there is high dissatisfaction regarding housing policy, we need to be curious about where exactly young people have question marks. For example, loan regulations are currently in place, justified by the awareness that we must put the brakes on continually inflating real estate through debt. If so, I think people are wondering how a housing ladder can be built so that housing can be acquired without taking on excessive debt. Preparing and presenting an answer to that is the role of politics, but because blanks are visible there, it becomes difficult to understand where this policy and this government's direction are heading and what path they are treading. A clear goal must be presented so that people can evaluate the overall policy based on that experience and consider where they stand to adapt and live within it, and I think that is an area our party is currently lacking.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Speaking of which, the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Senior Presidential Secretary for Economic Affairs have mentioned in broadcast interviews and at the National Assembly the idea regarding the park in Yongsan. It was already designated under a special act during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, so it is strictly a park. Apartments cannot be built there unless that special act is revised. Yet they brought up building youth housing there, and when the opposition party criticized it, they continued to propose ideas like, "We are not saying we will build apartments over the entire Yongsan Park, but we could build apartments on parts that feel somewhat abandoned to make housing for youth and newlyweds." What do you think about that?
▶ Kim Hyung-nam / Former Democratic Party Supreme Council Candidate: Preserving Yongsan Park as a park is a consensus reached 20 years ago.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: That is correct.
▶ Kim Hyung-nam / Former Democratic Party Supreme Council Candidate: I believe there is room to thoroughly reconsider this aspect. That said, filling the entire park with one million housing units is something the public would find difficult to accept.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Turning green space entirely into gray apartments.
▶ Kim Hyung-nam / Former Democratic Party Supreme Council Candidate: Ultimately, the core of making Yongsan Park into a park is creating an axis from Namsan to the Han River. With this green axis preserved, I believe there is sufficient room for public discussion on whether housing development is feasible in the outer areas of the park, particularly areas like Yongsan Children's Garden. Furthermore, I believe this is an area where we can conduct new methodological experiments regarding how housing can be acquired without taking out massive loans. For example, using new forms of acquisition like equity-accumulation housing not merely as supplementary measures, but as a primary method of housing supply to experiment anew within the space of Yongsan, is an area that is entirely possible in setting the future direction of housing policy.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Hearing you talk about that reminds me of the Seoul mayoral primary when you proposed many ideas. Recently, after the Lee Jae-myung administration's real estate tax reform plan was announced, voices of concern and calls for changes arose even within the Democratic Party. Meanwhile, the People Power Party hung banners saying things like, "I've been a single-home owner for many years, so why am I a speculator?" How do you view this tax reform plan amid criticism from the People Power Party?
▶ Kim Hyung-nam / Former Democratic Party Supreme Council Candidate: In practical terms, looking at the current tax reform plan, the effect is actually a tax cut for the vast majority of homes in Seoul, not a tax hike. I think it is necessary to distinguish facts from one-sided propaganda by the People Power Party. However, what needs further reinforcement is the Democratic Party's blueprint for addressing the continuously rising housing cost burden of tenants living in jeonse or monthly rentals in Seoul. I believe policy goals for tenants must be clearly presented, such as capping the total housing cost limit at no more than 1 million won when living as a tenant in Seoul. Only then can we resolve the anxiety people feel whenever housing policies are announced and gain the momentum to drive those policies forward. The People Power Party has its reasons for agitating. In the end, whenever individual policies are announced, they plunge the public into confusion through propaganda before implementation. In that sense, the party and the government must present a clearer blueprint showing what target our society is reforming toward through overall real estate policies, and I believe tenant policies must be strengthened in that regard.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Right. Also, because mandatory owner-occupancy is being strongly required, when landlords move in to live there, questions arise about where tenants should go. We will look into that further, and tomorrow around this time we plan to hold a debate on real estate policies, taking your remarks into account. Recently, although Representative Hwang Hee apologized, his idea of repurposing decommissioned buses into youth housing caused significant controversy. What came to your mind when you heard that?
▶ Kim Hyung-nam / Former Democratic Party Supreme Council Candidate: The words and announcements of politicians are not merely the words of a single individual; they directly impact the lives of many people. It is regrettable that our party repeatedly falls out of sync with citizens on such matters. Putting oneself in that position, would anyone find it appealing to live inside a decommissioned bus? I think tuning our frequency with the public needs to become second nature for our party.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: You mean the frequency needs to be properly aligned. As a youth politician entering the political arena, do you ever feel intimidated when speaking with seasoned, senior politicians who might think, "What does someone like Kim Hyung-nam know?" How does it feel?
▶ Kim Hyung-nam / Former Democratic Party Supreme Council Candidate: Naturally, having lived fewer years, I must acknowledge and accept that there are things I do not know. I cannot deny that. However, because we lived through different generations and eras, there are also things I know that they might not. Therefore, I do not believe one can unilaterally say, "I am right and past generations are entirely wrong." Instead, I believe we must build a politics that continually broadens empathy around how to update the path the Democratic Party has walked so far using what I know.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: We do not yet know whom Leader Kim Min-seok will offer the position to, or whether the youth supreme council member will be selected through an audition format again or appointed directly. But what if an offer comes? Would you be interested?
▶ Kim Hyung-nam / Former Democratic Party Supreme Council Candidate: During the primary, I repeatedly emphasized that in terms of public livelihood, pragmatism, and expansion, the space our party must expand into is youth in their 20s and 30s—the generation currently not showing up to vote. I found a lot of resonance in that aspect. Therefore, if given any opportunity to translate what I have advocated in words into practical political action for the party and its members, I am willing to take it up.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Understood. We will watch with keen interest on 'Joo Young-jin's News Briefing' to see if such an offer comes to candidate Kim Hyung-nam. Thank you for speaking with us today.
▶ Kim Hyung-nam / Former Democratic Party Supreme Council Candidate: Thank you.
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