Rift within President Yoon's inner circle widens

The People Power Party's acting chairman, Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, right, and Rep. Chang Je-won are spotted after a luncheon at a restaurant on Yeouido, Seoul, July 15. Joint Press Corps

Power struggle inside ruling party intensifies following 6-month suspension of former chairman

By Nam Hyun-woo

A rift between President Yoon Suk-yeol's key associates is widening again, in what appears to be a lingering power struggle over control of the party.

PPP Rep. Chang Je-won wrote on Facebook Monday that Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, PPP floor leader and acting chairman, “should not forget that he is now the head of the ruling party and he should not take it lightly,” adding, “His rhetoric is very rough.”

Chang's post came in response to Kweon's own Facebook post on Friday claiming to have “exerted influence” over Chang, who was the chief of staff for Yoon when he was the president-elect, to hire a former volunteer from Yoon's presidential election camp at the presidential office. The man, surnamed Woo, was mired in a controversy after he was found to have donated 10 million won to Yoon during the campaign period, and he is known to be the son of a Gangwon Province-based businessman who is close to the president.

“I have never felt any influence from Kweon. He was just recommended to me as a capable person,” Chang wrote concerning Woo.

Though Kweon later replied that he would “humbly accept Chang's comment” with an “open heart,” the quarrel was widely seen as a prelude to further conflict inside President Yoon's inner circle.

President Yoon Suk-yeol walks into the main chamber of the National Assembly for an administrative policy speech in this May 16 file photo. Behind Yoon is ruling People Power Party floor leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong. Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-keun

Then President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol sits in a meeting room of the presidential committee in Tongui-dong, Seoul, in this March 29 file photo. Behind Yoon is his then-chief of staff, Rep. Chang Je-won. Joint Press Corps

Since the campaign period, both Chang and Kweon have been widely seen as “key associates” of Yoon. The two were also seen as being close to each other.

However, their relationship showed signs of being derailed, after Kweon officially expressed his opposition early last month to the move by a number of pro-Yoon lawmakers to form a policy study group called Mindeulle, which was initially planned to have Chang as its leader. At the time, Chang had dismissed suspicions over their conflict, writing, “A brother is brother,” on Facebook referring to Kweon.

Later in June, the two showed their discord over plans to select the party's new leader after former Chairman Lee Jun-seok was suspended from party activity.

Kweon, who wears two hats also as the party's floor leader, took the helm of the PPP after Lee was suspended from party affairs for six months, meaning he now has a greater say in party affairs.

Unlike Kweon, Chang is known to have preferred the party to hold a convention to elect a new chairperson as soon as possible, to prevent any further disputes over the selection of the party's new leader.

As Chang skipped a number of events where his attendance was expected, suspicions over a possible power struggle between the two have resurfaced. The two had a luncheon on Friday to show that there is no conflict between them, but suspicions are only growing that the two have now become rivals.

Pundits say they are clashing as both of them vie for control of the party, thus further conflicts seem inevitable.

“There are two mainstream groups in the PPP ― the official one headed by its acting chairman, Kweon, and the unofficial one headed by Chang, who is believed to be the closest aide to Yoon,” political commentator Chin Jung-kwon said during a radio interview with broadcaster CBS.

“And they are bound to lock horns with each other as they vie for the party's chairmanship.”