Chun Ha-ram, “Lee Jun-seok Would Be Able to Recover Campaign Expenses Even If He Ran in Gwangju”

Former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok (right) attends a ceremony on the eve of the 43rd anniversary of the May 18 Democratization Movement at Geumnam-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju on the evening of May 17 and responds to citizens’ request for pictures. Chunayongin (Chun Ha-ram, Her Eun-a, Kim Yong-tae) members of the PPP, known as Lee Jun-seok supporters, accompanied the former party leader. Kwon Do-hyun

Chun Ha-ram, head of the People Power Party (PPP) office in Suncheon-gap (1), visited Gwangju to commemorate the May 18 Democratization Movement, and on May 19, he described the public sentiment in the Honam region saying, “They don’t hate everyone just because they are People Power Party politicians. They respond accurately according to whether they are strange people who undermine the May 18 Democratization Movement.” He also said, “Even if (former) leader Lee Jun-seok ran in Gwangju, I thought that he would be able to gain enough support to recover the costs.”

Chun shared his views on Kim Hyun-jung’s News Show (CBS radio) on Friday and further said, “A lot of them want people who consistently show interest in Honam, who do not undermine the May 18 Democratization Movement at all, and who have been well educated after May 18, to become the mainstream of the People Power Party.”

Chun continued and said there were many citizens in Gwangju who thought that the May 18 pro-democracy movement should not be an issue dominated by or restricted to the Democratic Party of Korea and argued, “For that, we need some change in attitude from Gwangju, but most of all, the PPP needs to do well.” He mentioned that there were people who criticized the party’s Supreme Council member Kim Jae-won and said, “We criticize him (Kim Jae-won) too as we listen to their stories.”

According to Chun, the citizens of Gwangju welcomed Lee Jun-seok. The chief of the PPP Suncheon-gap office said, “I thought if he (Lee) made a bid in Gwangju, he would receive enough votes to retrieve the costs.” According to the Public Official Election Act, when a candidate receives 15% or more of the total valid votes in a presidential election or parliamentary election, they are to retrieve campaign expenses in full.

Chun Ha-ram also conveyed the response of the local residents to visits to Gwangju by cabinet members in the Yoon Suk-yeol government and PPP legislators and said, “They thought it was a relief that the president came.” He said, “There were some people who yelled, ‘What is President Yoon doing here?’ but the people around them actually tried to stop them.” He explained, “Most people were asking, ‘What are you doing when the president came here and encouraged us to recall the May spirit?’ so the controversy triggered by Kim did not spread to the government and ruling PPP. People seemed to relax seeing that the situation ended well.”

As for President Yoon not personally mentioning plans to stipulate the May 18 spirit in the preamble of the Constitution, Chun defended the president and said, “I think he considered that if the president personally mentioned stipulating it in the Constitution one more time, it could immediately stir controversy.” He further said, “A constitutional amendment is--the political energy we can use is more limited than we think. Once we amend the Constitution, then it is not easy to start another discussion for an amendment for the next ten years.” He added, “I am also concerned that people could actually ask, ‘Do we have to amend the Constitution for an issue that is only related to Gwangju and Honam?’ leading to regional conflicts or a consuming political battle.”