People Power Party scrambling in aftermath of election
The People Power Party on Wednesday grappled with the decisive presidential election loss of its candidate, Kim Moon-soo, as several voices within the conservative bloc called for reform and new leadership.
At around 1:35 a.m. on Wednesday, Kim delivered a speech conceding defeat in the presidential election to liberal Democratic Party of Korea candidate Lee Jae-myung.
Some 84 percent of ballots were counted at the time of his speech. Lee had held a clear lead with 48.3 percent of the vote to Kim's 42.9 percent. The three major broadcasters had already conducted and released exit polls that projected Lee as the winner.
Upon completion of vote counting, Lee had won 49.42 percent of the votes compared to Kim’s 41.14 percent.
“I humbly accept the people’s choice,” Kim said in a press conference at the People Power Party headquarters in western Seoul.
“I congratulate Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung, who has been elected."
Members of the party’s leadership, the emergency response committee, had yet to announce their resignations as of Wednesday afternoon, despite growing calls for them to step down and take responsibility for the election loss.
The mood shifted later as Kim criticized his party for having "no sense of obligation" to protect democracy, at a ceremony marking the dissolution of the People Power Party's election campaign committee in the afternoon.
"I believe I've committed a big, historic crime. And I've thought deeply over the reason, and this is because our party lacks any basic understanding of democracy and has no sense of obligation to protect it," he said.
The former labor minister indirectly took a jab at the party leadership's failed attempt to strip him of his candidacy to replace him with former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo weeks ago in mid-May. Critics say that the overnight tug-of-war between Kim and the party leadership had soured voter sentiment against the conservative party.
"Democracy within our party has collapsed. The democracy was completely gone when we were deciding who to vote for as the party leader and who to pick as the candidate," Kim said.
Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, who was co-chair of the People Power Party’s election campaign committee, labeled the latest election loss as “a stern order (from the people) calling for the party’s change to the core,” in a Wednesday Facebook post. “No one (within the party), including me, is free from the responsibility of the loss,” he added.
Echoing Rep. Kim’s sentiment, People Power Party Rep. Park Jeong-hun said that the “emergency response committee under interim leader Kim Yong-tae must be immediately dismantled,” via Facebook. “We must form a new party leadership as soon as possible to design a new path for the party’s future.”
Former People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon similarly called Lee's election victory "a stern order from the people asking the political forces that supported an illegal martial law bid to leave," in a Facebook post uploaded early in the day.
Addressing such growing calls, People Power Party interim leader Kim Yong-tae told reporters he plans to "make a decision" after reviewing what is best "for the party and the people."
At around noon, Kim Yong-tae attended a celebratory luncheon meeting tied to Lee’s swearing-in ceremony at the National Assembly, where he congratulated the president on his election victory in person. At the same time, he expressed concerns about the Democratic Party’s plans to pass several unilateral bills at the plenary meeting scheduled for Thursday.
The interim leader said that the People Power Party is willing to actively cooperate with Lee and the Democratic Party if they are willing to uphold the system of proportional representation at the parliament and “mutual benefits” for both sides of the political sphere.
At the earlier press conference held to deliver his concession speech, Kim Moon-soo thanked members of the People Power Party and the public for their support.
“South Korea has been able to make great progress in the face of any crisis backed by the power of its people,” he said. “I sincerely thank the people who gave undeserving support to a candidate who lacks many things.”
Kim shook the hands of the People Power Party's election campaign committee members — including interim leader Kim Yong-tae — and reporters before leaving the scene.
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