PPP campaign chief tells toadies to keep their distance

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Published: 23 Dec. 2021, 18:58

PPP campaign chief tells toadies to keep their distance

People Power Party's (PPP) presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, center, cheers at an event launching the South Jeolla branch of the election campaign committee during a visit to Suncheon in South Jeolla Thursday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Kim Chong-in, general chairman of the main opposition People Power Party's (PPP) election campaign committee, warned people claiming to be close to presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol against “overstepping” their boundaries Thursday.

Addressing the concerns within the party that the campaign is not functioning properly due to internal discord, Kim in a meeting of the PPP’s election committee said its members should “strive to exert their full potential, but also be aware that trying to perform any other function beyond that is problematic."

His remarks were aimed at people claiming to be close aides to Yoon who are trying to overexert influence within the campaign committee, which has been criticized as being disorganized and bloated. The election campaign committee, after its launch on Dec. 6, gathered over 550 registered members in just two weeks.

Kim has stepped up to streamline the campaign after PPP chairman Lee Jun-seok quit as the standing co-chair of the election committee Tuesday after clashing with a senior party official who refused to take instructions from him. Cho Su-jin, a member of the party's supreme council who had served as the campaign committee's public relations chief until Tuesday, said she only takes orders from Yoon in an altercation with Lee in a Monday meeting after disagreeing on how to respond to allegations that Yoon's wife Kim Kun-hee falsified her job credentials.

Lee resigned from all his campaign positions, including overseeing media and public relations, saying he has no more role to serve. The move is the latest indicator of feuding within the party, which seemed to have temporarily been patched through a reconciliatory meeting in Ulsan between the PPP chief and candidate Yoon in Ulsan on Dec. 3.

Responding to the internal feuding, Kim has cranked up his leadership to take a grip over the overall campaign, focusing on “efficiency and collaboration” rather than a complete overhaul of the election committee.

“There are those who are calling for a fundamental reshuffling of the senior leadership of the campaign, but at this point I am not considering causing such chaos again,” Kim said in the Thursday meeting.

Kim said that the dissonance during the primary race resulted from “people, claiming they are close to the candidate, overstepping their boundaries, but this will be rectified in the future.” He recommended such individuals reconsider whether their actions really will be helpful to Yoon and criticized the campaign committee as being “slow.”

Yim Tae-hee, overseeing the campaign’s general situation headquarters, is expected to take lead in such streamlining efforts.

Kwon Seong-dong, the party’s secretary general, said in the meeting they will “break down walls” between different headquarters to help with communication and coordination.

But PPP chief Lee told KBS radio Thursday, “If candidate Yoon Suk-yeol had really given full power to general chairman Kim Chong-in, he would have disbanded [the election campaign committee] immediately."

Lee also clashed with PPP Rep. Chang Je-won, a third-term lawmaker and a confidant of Yoon who has had tense relations with the party chief in the past, pointing out that there are meddlesome people claiming to be close to the candidate and trying to intervene in the campaign. Lee told media Tuesday that “someone who is not a part of the election campaign committee should just stay in Busan,” in reference to Chang.

Chang told the JoongAng Ilbo Thursday that he has a duty to attend the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee but said, “I’m not someone who avoids a fight but will not respond further.”

He likewise called Lee pinpointing him as a key aide to Yoon an “insulting personal attack” in a Facebook post that day.

In turn, Yoon was on a two-day tour of the Honam region, referring to the Jeolla provinces and Gwangju, and traditionally a Democratic Party stronghold.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]