Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
What's next for ousted ruling party chairman?
Former People Power Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok gets in a vehicle after attending a hearing on injunctions he filed with the Seoul Southern District Court in Yangcheon District, Seoul, Sept. 28. Korea Times photo by Koh Young-kwon
By Nam Hyun-woo
Race begins for new People Power Party chairman
By Nam Hyun-woo
The future of former ruling People Power Party (PPP) Chairman Lee Jun-seok, once regarded as a promising young politician, is at a crossroads following the party's decision to suspend him from party affairs for an additional year.
The added punishment suspending the 37-year-old's party membership until January 2024 means that it will be impossible for Lee to run for the party leadership again at its national convention expected to take place early next year.
Chances are also slim for Lee to receive the party's nomination, which is granted by its chairman, at the next general election, unless the PPP's leadership suddenly warms up to him again.
On Friday, the PPP's ethics committee suspended Lee's party membership for a year, in addition to the previously imposed six months that came three months ago. Lee faced the additional suspension due to his comments about President Yoon Suk-yeol and the PPP, describing the Yoon administration as a military junta.
The latest punishment came one day after a Seoul district court dismissed a number of injunctions Lee had filed seeking to overturn the PPP's decision to have an emergency leadership replace him, quelling the former chairman's crusade against the party's mainstream faction.
“From now on, I must walk down a more lonely and solitary path,” Lee wrote on his Facebook.
In that respect, there has been speculation that Lee may leave the PPP and join forces with those who are critical of the president and create a new party. However, Lee ruled out such a scenario, posting a message on Facebook on Friday saying, “No one should leave the party and keep their positions.”
“Although we have not decided what to do next in detail, we see slim chances for the speculation on creating a new party,” said Kim Yong-tae, a former PPP supreme council member and a close aide to Lee.
Former People Power Party Rep. Yoo Seong-min attends a TV debate for the party's primary for the presidential election at broadcaster YTN's studio in Mapo District, Seoul, in this Oct. 22, 2021, file photo. Joint Press Corps
As Lee is highly likely to stay with the party, anticipation is now growing that he will likely support former PPP Rep. Yoo Seung-min to help him challenge the PPP's mainstream, dominated by the pro-Yoon faction, and grab the party's leadership in the upcoming national convention.
Yoo, a conservative heavyweight who is known as Lee's political mentor, has been raising his voice against the president and the pro-Yoon faction inside the ruling party recently, and beating his rivals in a number of surveys asking who will be the best pick for the next PPP chairman.
In a poll by Next Week Research asking the public's preference for the next PPP chairman, Yoo led the pack with 29.7 percent, followed by former PPP Rep. Na Kyung-won with 12.2 percent and former chairman Lee with 12.1 percent. Lee had led the survey for seven consecutive weeks. The survey questioned 1,000 adults from Oct. 4 to 5, and further information is available at the polling agency's website.
Against this backdrop, Yoo also denounced the party's decision on Lee's punishment, saying “a dog will laugh (at the punishment)” and added, “If Lee was punished for his expression, why isn't the PPP punishing member Yoon Suk-yeol who used foul language?”
With Lee's fate depending on who will be the next PPP chairman, the party is bracing for the national convention, which will elect its leader.
The PPP's interim leader Chung Jin-suk has said the party should hold the national convention in February after the National Assembly's regular session ends in December this year. So far, Reps. Kim Gi-hyeon and Ahn Cheol-soo have officially announced their bid for the chairmanship, while Reps. Yoo and Cho Kyoung-tae are anticipated to reveal their intentions soon.