Yoon Sang-hyun, “Na Kyung-won Practically Disregarded President Yoon as a Leader Who Made the Wrong Decision”

Former People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won, who resigned as vice chairperson of the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy, delivers her greetings at the 2023 New Year greeting of the party’s Seoul office held at the party headquarters in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul on January 11. National Assembly press photographers

Lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun, who announced his bid in the People Power Party (PPP) convention, claimed Na Kyung-won’s image as an anti-Yoon member has grown stronger.

On January 18, the PPP lawmaker appeared on Kim Hyung-jung’s News Show on CBS radio and shared his views on the Office of the President’s open criticism of Na the previous day. He said, “Didn’t Na Kyung-won drag President Yoon Suk-yeol into it? In that respect, I think it was inappropriate.” He criticized what Na had written on social media the previous day, about how she thought that it was not President Yoon Suk-yeol’s true intention to sack her. She wrote, “When the president made the decision, there was distortion in the process of conveying opinions.”

PPP lawmaker Yoon explained, “Claiming that it was not the president’s true intention implies that the president made the wrong decision after listening to the wrong advice of his staff. In a way, she disregarded the president, turning him into a leader who made the wrong judgment of the situation.” He also argued, “She (Na) herself said that she was pro-Yoon and that she would never in her life be anti-Yoon, but according to the current situation, her image as an anti-Yoon figure--and not a pro-Yoon figure--has grown stronger.” He added, “She probably can’t do anything because she is completely labeled as anti-Yoon, and not pro-Yoon.”

As for the former lawmaker’s bid for party leader, Yoon said, “I think the people around her, rather than Na herself, is strongly asking her to run,” and argued, “She did not resign as ambassador on climate and the environment when she stepped down as vice chairperson of the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy. Frankly, this meant that she would not run in the party convention.”

However, Yoon also said, “She tried to settle the matter at a suitable time, but the collective lynching by lawmaker Chang Je-won and the pro-Yoon lawmakers forced her to protest. And now that the president has sacked her, it is more likely for her to make a bid.”