Oh Se-hoon, Han Dong-hoon Alike Criticize 'Jang Dong-hyeok's Direct Election of Local Chapters and Disciplinary Politics'

Potential presidential hopefuls of the conservative opposition bloc, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon of the People Power Party and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, met at a National Assembly seminar today (the 25th) and jointly issued anti-Jang Dong-hyeok messages.

As Party Leader Jang attempts to tighten his grip on power through disciplinary actions against anti-Jang faction lawmakers and a direct party member election system for local party chapter heads, the two figures appeared to align their political frequencies and put the brakes on together.

The two attended the "U.S. Grand Strategy and South Korea's Choice" seminar held at the National Assembly Members' Hall on the morning of this day, hosted by the National Assembly's Future Innovation Forum led by People Power Party lawmaker Kim Gi-hyeon.

Meeting with reporters after the seminar regarding Party Leader Jang's push to replace local party chapter heads, Mayor Oh expressed virtually opposing views, stating, "There is a sequence and an appropriate time for everything."

He emphasized, "At a time when the Lee Jae-myung administration is running amok over real estate issues and its approval ratings are plunging, the party must pool all its efforts," adding, "We need party leadership that can create synergy through politics of addition rather than politics of subtraction."

Regarding the party Central Ethics Committee's decision to discipline non-mainstream lawmakers such as Cho Kyung-tae, Seo Bum-soo, Kwon Young-jin, and Jin Jong-oh, he noted, "Ethics committee politics is the lowest form of politics," and added, "It is my hope that we return to the opposition party's inherent stance of keeping the rampaging administration in check through dialogue and integration."

Speaking separately with the press after the seminar, Lawmaker Han also condemned the replacement of People Power Party local chapter heads, stating, "A public party maintained with the people's blood-soaked taxes should not go down the path of privatization," and warned, "If it does, it cannot keep the reckless Lee Jae-myung Democratic Party administration in check."

Regarding Party Leader Jang, who marks his first anniversary in office on the 26th, he said, "The party has regressed. It is deeply regrettable," and added, "If we go down this path, we cannot properly achieve our mission—the conservative mission—of stopping the Democratic Party administration from heading down the wrong path."

This is practically the second time the two have met in public since the June 3 local elections, following their attendance at the National Public Policy Forum on June 16.

The two had been invited to a debate hosted by People Power Party lawmaker Lee Seong-kwon on June 23 and a seminar hosted by lawmaker Kim Gi-hyeon on June 24, but their schedules had crossed, failing to bring about a meeting.

For this seminar, former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min and New Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok were originally invited as well, but did not attend due to personal reasons.

Lawmaker Kim Gi-hyeon warmly addressed Lawmaker Han during his welcoming speech at the seminar, calling him "our former party leader Han Dong-hoon."

Having served as party leader himself, he said, "There was a time when I thought 'party-member-centered' was right, but now it seems to be leaning too far to one side. Shouldn't the axis shift from excessive party-member-centrism to 'public-centrism'?"

This is interpreted as targeting the party-member-centered politics advocated by Party Leader Jang.

In response, Lawmaker Han remarked, "Conservative politics must be rebuilt in order to set the Lee Jae-myung administration right," and added, "Representative Kim's remark that we must move toward a public-centered approach touches me deeply."

Meanwhile, Mayor Oh and Lawmaker Han also urged a major overhaul of foreign policy and national security toward the Lee Jae-myung administration during the seminar.

Mayor Oh stated, "Peace lived with nuclear weapons over our heads is fake peace," and argued, "We must promptly reach the level of uranium reprocessing comparable to Japan's standards, including the introduction of nuclear-powered submarines, and toward that end, push for the revision of the South Korea-U.S. Atomic Energy Agreement."

Lawmaker Han, a member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, expressed concern, saying, "Even when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited South Korea and used the expression 'the two countries of South Korea and North Korea' right in front of National Security Office Director Wi Sung-lac, no effort was made to correct it," adding, "The principles of diplomacy are collapsing."

(Photo provided by Kookmin Ilbo, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.