Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
Ahn's party tentatively named 'New Politics Party'
By Jun Ji-hye
Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo’s preparatory committee said Monday that the tentative name for his political party, expected to be launched in March, is the “New Politics Party.”
“We plan to register with the National Election Commission as the New Politics Party,” the committee said in a statement. “We will use the name until the party is officially launched. The final name will be decided through a public contest later.”
The decision was made in a meeting at its headquarters in Yeouido.
“We tried to emphasize our desire for new politics through the tentative name of the new party,” said Kim Sung-sik, a former lawmaker of the Grand National Party (now the ruling Saenuri Party) who co-chairs the committee.
Kim said the committee will push ahead with creating the party after the Lunar New Year holiday, which ends on Feb. 2, and hold open forums to explain its constitution and policies.
After the meeting, Rep. Ahn said he will not focus on recruiting sitting lawmakers just to secure a fixed election symbol number in the June 4 local elections.
Under the Election Law, only candidates from a party that has more than five National Assembly seats are assigned a fixed number. Those from a party with less than five seats receive the last number determined by how many candidates run in the constituency.
“Most of my candidates will naturally receive No. 5 as an elective symbol number if all parties field candidates,” Ahn said to reporters. “I do not intend to work excessively just to receive a fixed number for my candidates.”
He made clear that an alleged move to recruit independent lawmakers Park Joo-sun and Kang Dong-won was not to secure more than five parliamentary seats.
In the meantime, the committee launched a sub-committee composed of 40 members with people in their 20s account for the majority.
“We will utilize the committee to listen to what young people think and what they really want in order to change old politics,” said Yoon Yeo-joon, a former environment minister who co-chairs the preparatory committee.