Yoo Seong-min: "Discuss 'Grand Conservative Unity' with Han Dong-hoon and Lee Jun-seok... Party Members Won't Accept Jang Dong-hyeok's Leadership in General Election"

[Joo Young-jin's News Briefing]

When quoting this interview, please cite the program name 'SBS <Joo Young-jin's News Briefing>'. Copyright reserved by SBS.

■ Broadcast: SBS <Joo Young-jin's News Briefing> Mon – Fri (14:00 – 15:20)
■ Host: Anchor Joo Young-jin
■ Guest: Former Lawmaker Yoo Seong-min
--------------------------------------------

● Interview with Former Lawmaker Yoo Seong-min

"Felt a sense of helplessness watching PPP's filibuster in the National Assembly recently"
"Biggest worry these days is the general election... Must take back the parliamentary majority"
"Setting aside pros and cons on impeachment, now is the time for grand unity"
"In its current state, People Power Party cannot win the capital area election"
"Innovation is needed to be reborn as a healthier moderate-conservative party"
"People Power Party must achieve even 90% unity if not 100%"
"Jang Dong-hyeok will hold out until the end... Next national convention will decide the fate of conservatives"
"If minds unite for general election victory, current leadership won't survive"
"Will meet with Han Dong-hoon as well... Including figures outside party is grand unity"
"Han Dong-hoon's reinstatement would cause noise right now... There is enough time"
"Lee Jae-myung administration, major policy failures after just one year"
"Tampering with institutions whether prosecution or KMA is wrong"
"'Daughter's preferential treatment allegation' is a witch-hunt investigation... Cannot create a non-existent crime"
--------------------------------------------

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: For some time, it was difficult to meet with him, but recently he seems to have started speaking out. Former Lawmaker Yoo Seong-min is here with us. Welcome.

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: Hello. It's been a long time.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: It really has been a long time.

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: It has been four years since I last saw you, Mr. Joo.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Is that so? I looked it up as well. Thank you for joining us.

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: Not at all.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Since the emergency martial law, it feels like you've been quietly observing the political scene and the world for a long time.

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: That's right.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: What is the outcome? What conclusions have you reached after gathering your thoughts?

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: As someone who started in and belongs to a conservative party, when I watched the People Power Party conduct a 24-hour filibuster in the National Assembly recently, I felt so helpless. Looking back at the past ten years or so, we underwent two impeachments and lost three general elections in a row. In our current state, while the Lee Jae-myung administration is running rampant and making many policy failures after just one year, what is our party, the main opposition party, doing while so helpless? That is why my biggest concern these days is the general election.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: The next general election.

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: In the general election, we must take back the parliamentary majority. I strongly feel that only by doing so can we check the missteps of the Lee Jae-myung administration and set right the direction of this country. So I strongly felt that no matter what I do, I must speak up now.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: So the starting point of your thoughts seems to be that the opposition party cannot remain like this.

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: Yes, that's right.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Then how do you think it should change?

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: I spoke about two common-sense principles: unity and innovation. Doing just one of these two will not work. That is because regarding unity, conservatives have spent the last 10 years fighting internally, shooting at each other, and treating each other like enemies over whether they supported or opposed the impeachment. As we kept splitting, we ended up fractured and scattered in every election. So whether someone supported or opposed impeachment, I say let us unite broadly now. That is the first point, which sounds easy but is very difficult. Second, there are 122 constituency seats in the capital area. If we cannot win the capital area election, we cannot win back the National Assembly. But how do we win the capital area election? As I always say, we must win the hearts of the moderates, the capital area voters, and the youth. Looking at our approval ratings and local election results, can the People Power Party in its current state win the capital area election? I think it is nowhere near enough. Therefore, we must carry out innovation and reform—whatever form it takes—so our party can be reborn as a healthy party that encompasses sound moderate conservatives. We cannot succeed with this current leadership or the current state of our party. So unity and innovation—these are obvious principles, but things we failed to put into practice over the past 10 years.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Indeed. Knowing the answer, yet...

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: Even while knowing it.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Knowing the answer, yet failing to act on it. Why is this so difficult?

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: It is difficult. How vicious is the emotional conflict over supporting or opposing impeachment? And politicians keep exploiting it politically—if those who supported impeachment hold power, those who opposed try to purge them when they take control. And innovation means our party should look to the future and craft policies for citizens who are struggling, but looking at our party—though the Democratic Party's national convention is also embarrassing in a way—we are being overly swayed by hardline party members. I understand that our longtime People Power Party members were opposed to impeachment, but at the same time, because they lost every election, they clearly possess a strong desire for power and a drive to win. To those members, I say the past is in the past. We cannot change each other's thoughts on impeachment right now, nor am I proposing to change them. I have my views, and they have theirs. But how long are we going to fight among ourselves, divide the party, and carry out nomination purges over this? If you truly want to win the general election and win back power, then we must change. That appeal did not work over the past 10 years, but facing the general election, I must keep making it. I believe if consensus spreads, politicians' mindsets will also change. In my 27 years in this party, having first joined with the help of President Lee Hoe-chang—as Mr. Joo knows well—never in these 27 years have conservatives been so destroyed and diminished as in the last 10 years. So whatever I do, I felt I had to broaden this consensus among our members and supporters. That is why I have been speaking out since the local elections ended.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Listening to you, as you mentioned yourself, it seems like a very difficult problem. Unifying and innovating—isn't the argument something like "the emergency martial law was wrong, but I was opposed to impeachment"?

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: Yes, that view exists.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: But regarding the declaration of emergency martial law, which was ruled as insurrection in the court of first instance, shouldn't a clear principle be established on assessing this martial law for the People Power Party to be reborn?

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: Even among those who opposed impeachment, almost no one says Former President Yoon Suk Yeol's December 3 emergency martial law was a good thing.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Exactly.

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: There are some, very few, saying Former President Yoon's martial law was right and shouting 'Yoon Again.' But even with a grand unity, can we realistically achieve 100% unity? I think we must achieve even 90% unity. If some people oppose even moving past the impeachment debate and crossing the river of impeachment to win, while firing at us from inside, how can we go all the way with them? However, looking at the majority of our lawmakers and party members, there is a consensus that Former President Yoon's emergency martial law a year and a half ago was wrong and a very foolish act, even among those who opposed impeachment. So when bringing their hearts together, I ask: Haven't those two impeachments passed? Are we going to keep fighting over it for another 10 or 20 years, continuing to divide conservatives, create new parties, and remain in this state? No, we shouldn't. I believe persistent dialogue will work, and those I have met agree on this point, though everyone has slight differences in perspective.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: When all is said and done, innovation comes down to people.

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: That is right.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Systems, policies, pledges, and party rules matter, but ultimately it is a matter of people.

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: That is right.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Earlier, you said that things cannot continue with the current leadership or party structure. But Representative Jang Dong-hyeok has made it clear he has no intention of stepping down and is taking a firm stance, even planning to replace local chapter heads. Can this really be changed? Do you intend to wait until the national convention next August to change it? What are your thoughts?

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: He should have stepped down after the local elections.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Right.

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: But he didn't step down and is holding out. And in my view, Representative Jang Dong-hyeok will likely hold out until the end. As you may recall, Mr. Joo, when Park Geun-hye's emergency response committee was formed in 2011, then-Representative Hong Joon-pyo refused to step down until Supreme Council members Nam Kyung-pil, Won Hee-ryong, and I resigned overnight, causing the leadership to collapse within a few days. But right now, the Supreme Council members don't even agree on that. So this situation may persist for a while. Whether it lasts until the end of the year, next February, or at the latest next August, his term cannot be extended further. Ahead of the general election, a new leadership must be elected at the next national convention, and I believe that convention will be a crucial turning point deciding the fate of our conservatives. At that time, the hardline party members whom Representative Jang trusts most—as I mentioned earlier—also feel a very strong desire to win the general election.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Having lost for far too long.

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: Having served four terms as a National Assembly member in Daegu, I know better than anyone who the hardline members in Yeongnam are. Representative Jang seems to trust them, but those members change ahead of major elections. They were the very members who elected Lee Jun-seok as party leader in 2021. Therefore, as the general election approaches, people see how helplessly we fail to block the tyranny and excess of the Lee Jae-myung administration in the National Assembly—whether on real estate, stocks, the Criminal Procedure Act, or national security. They see that we cannot stop anything. If minds unite around winning rather than arguing over impeachment or harboring hatred toward political rivals within the party, I believe our members themselves will not accept this leadership continuing.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: You recently met with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Reform Party Leader Lee Jun-seok.

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: Yes, I met them.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Do you also intend to meet Lawmaker Han Dong-hoon?

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: I should. I must meet him eventually. I met him last year and spoke with him, and although he is currently outside the party, regarding unity and innovation, he always talks about rebuilding conservatives as well, which I have also done for a long time. In that sense, grand unity means discussing things together with figures outside the party like Leader Lee Jun-seok and Lawmaker Han Dong-hoon.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: They are targets of unity.

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: Right. But there is an issue: if former leader Han Dong-hoon were to return to the party right today, there would clearly be noise within the party.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Right.

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: How to wisely overcome that politically is what I believe politicians ought to do. If he reinstates right now, the division and fighting inside the party might cause more noise than the benefits of his return, which shouldn't become a net negative for party unity. So I believe we have time—this autumn, this winter, and next spring—plenty of time. If we resolve these issues step by step and steer the party toward unity and innovation, who couldn't walk along that broad road together? If I meet Representative Jang Dong-hyeok, I definitely want to tell him this. Representative Jang also needs to feel responsible for unity, innovation, and rebuilding conservatives, and work together on it. Although he is not doing so right now, if I meet Representative Jang, I want to say the exact same things I said to Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Leader Lee Jun-seok.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: What was Leader Lee Jun-seok's reaction? Since Mayor Oh Se-hoon belongs to the People Power Party...

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: Indeed.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: But Leader Lee Jun-seok is the head of a different party, the Reform Party.

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: Leader Lee Jun-seok seems to have some hesitations about the justification for merging and unifying right away, and whether that is even possible under the Jang Dong-hyeok leadership. However, looking long-term, I told him: How long are we going to run separate households and suffer in every election, as we did in the local elections? The general election will be similar. How long can this go on? To unite and innovate so conservatives can win over the hearts of moderate and conservative voters, shouldn't someone like Leader Lee Jun-seok naturally play a role?

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: You mentioned earlier that the Lee Jae-myung administration is running rampant. Which specific areas do you feel they are pushing through too hard?

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: Just one year into the administration, before the election it was about special prosecutor bills targeting alleged fabricated indictments or motion dismissals, which I think they might push through after their national convention. The recent amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act will truly become a problem going forward. Everyone in the country is feeling the state of real estate, especially tenants living on Jeonse or monthly rent who face excruciating daily struggles—the real estate market has reached a point like opening the gates of hell. In the stock market, they mobilized the National Pension Service to boost stock prices, introduced single-stock leveraged products, and now 98% or 99% of retail investors who used leverage are suffering losses, aren't they? After telling retail investors 'don't invest in real estate, invest in stocks'—with even the President shouting it loudly—and then this happens, saying GDP rose a few percent because Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix made money is just a number. So many young people are facing job issues, wealth polarization, housing problems, stock market losses... Has there ever been an administration with such major policy failures after just one year? Checking and preventing this is the duty of the opposition party, but the opposition currently holds only 109 seats.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Media commentary points out that while the opposition party is a minority in the National Assembly and inevitably feels helpless, it should make the public pay attention to its voice.

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: That is right.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: They point out that even if what the People Power Party says is right, the public is not paying attention. Isn't that the current problem of the People Power Party?

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: That is correct. That is why I mention the youth gathered at Olympic Park. Aren't those young people also suffering from housing burdens, job problems, or stock losses? Instead of the party leader going to Olympic Park every day obsessing over election fraud claims, he should gather the collective wisdom of our lawmakers—we have many fine politicians. Gathering their voices to check the Lee Jae-myung administration and the President when they go astray will make the public listen and realize, 'What the People Power Party is saying is right,' as you just said.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Former Lawmaker Yoo Seong-min originally entered politics as an economic expert during President Lee Hoe-chang's tenure.

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: Yes.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: In your political career, you served on the Defense Committee for a quite long time.

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: I served on the Defense Committee for a long time.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Recently regarding the integration of military academies, President Lee Jae-myung clearly stated: Integration and reform are always tough, but do it. He rebuked the Defense Minister asking why progress has been so slow.

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: How is that reform? Right now, in terms of national security, matters like the wartime operational control (OPCON) transfer and the future of the ROK-U.S. military alliance are critical. You've visited Washington—isn't this an extremely important issue? We long agreed on a condition-based OPCON transfer, but while North Korea's nuclear capabilities grow increasingly severe, they are obsessed only with taking OPCON back quickly, even using the word 'reclamation' instead of 'transfer.' Issues like enhancing self-reliant defense capabilities, strengthening the ROK-U.S. alliance, responding to North Korea's nuclear threats, and managing OPCON transfer are paramount. Integrating the Army, Navy, and Air Force academies—and the facts were wrong too. When the President asked the Defense Minister, 'How many coups did the military carry out?' the Minister replied 'Three times.' May 16 and December 12 were indeed carried out by military officers, but that was 48, 49 years ago. But two years ago—less than two years ago—the December 3 emergency martial law was declared by former President Yoon Suk Yeol, a former prosecutor who graduated from Chungam High School and Seoul National University School of Law. How was that done by military officers? Why abolish the Korea Military Academy over that? When talking about integrating the military academies, jointness is important. But if you move Naval Academy from the city center to Jaundae and Air Force Academy from beside the runway to Jaundae, does that enhance jointness? That is why using coups as an excuse to merge the academies resembles the logic of abolishing the prosecution over former President Roh Moo-hyun's tragic death, which appears like a form of retaliation because President Lee Jae-myung himself was investigated. Whether it is the prosecution or KMA, touching institutions in this manner is wrong.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Speaking of investigations, I recall reading news reports that police were investigating and searching your daughter's hiring as a university professor. Recently, Korea University announced that after their own investigation, they concluded it was not improper research performance.

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: Last autumn during the parliamentary audit, lawmakers from the Democratic Party and Rebuilding Korea Party caused a uproar, prompting the police, Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI), and Ministry of Education to twist Korea University's arm over research papers. Now, one of three matters has been cleared. Allegations of self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, and salami slicing regarding research papers were all cleared of suspicion. What remains are the police and BAI. They cannot manufacture a crime that doesn't exist. Seeing recent events, I realize this is what targeted, witch-hunt investigations are like—not just myself, but many university professors have been booked as suspects. No matter how thoroughly they dig, they cannot create a non-existent crime. So if the police or BAI write absurd fictions to frame people, I intend to respond forcefully.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Do you know when the results will be announced?

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: I don't know. I can't tell them to stop or command when to release it. I can only watch.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Is she currently still teaching students as a professor?

▶ Yoo Seong-min / Former Lawmaker: Yes, she is.

▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Understood. Thank you for joining us today after a long time, though time feels far too short. I hope to see you more often in the future.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.