President sacks PPP lawmaker Na Kyung-won from two jobs

Former People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won speaks to reporters after attending mass at the Heukseok-dong Catholic Church in Dongjak District, southern Seoul on Sunday morning. [KIM SEONG-RYONG]

President Yoon Suk Yeol has sacked former People Power Party (PPP) lawmaker Na Kyung-won from her position as vice chair of a presidential committee on population policy, as well as her post as climate ambassador.

In a press briefing on Friday afternoon, presidential spokesperson Kim Eun-hye said that Na submitted an offer to resign from the committee, but that President Yoon decided to dismiss her from both her posts.

Na, a former four-term lawmaker, offered to resign last week after she proposed policy incentives for boosting the country’s lagging birthrate that the presidential office said it opposed.

Na said at a recent press conference that Korea should adopt a policy similar to that of Hungary, where couples who marry can take out loans of up to 40 million won ($32,320) that can be written off when they have three children.

The presidential office immediately said it had not been consulted about Na’s proposal and that trying to solve Korea’s low birth rate with such policies would not work.

The presidential office also said Na’s suggestion did not align with the current government’s direction and emphasized that it was a personal opinion.

The PPP spokesperson said that Kim Young-mi, a standing member of the population policy committee, will replace Na as its vice chair, while Professor Cho Heung-seek at Seoul National University Law School had been nominated for the new climate ambassador.

While Na’s dismissal came after signs of the rift emerged between her and Yoon on the population policy committee, their conflict coincides with signs that Na could be a formidable contender in the PPP leadership contest — a race in which Yoon is believed to be backing another lawmaker.

Although Na has yet to openly declare a bid for the party’s top position, PPP supporters picked her as their favorite for party leader in a poll released Wednesday, backing her almost twice as much as the second-ranked contender.

In a poll of 1,020 voters conducted by Hangil Research from Dec. 6 to 9, 30.7 percent of PPP supporters said Na should be the next leader of the PPP.

Four-term lawmaker and former acting party president Kim Gi-hyeon, who is favored by Yoon, came in second place with 18.8 percent, followed by former lawmaker Yoo Seong-min with 14.6 percent, Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo with 13.9 percent and former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn with 5.3 percent.

Na ran for the PPP leadership in June 2021 and was the runner up with 37.1 percent, compared to winner Lee Jun-seok’s 43.8 percent.

Na is a veteran conservative politician, but is not considered close to Yoon.

The PPP is scheduled to hold a national convention on March 8 to elect its new chair.

In a change of rules announced by the PPP’s emergency steering committee late last month, the new party leader will be selected solely based on PPP members’ votes — without factoring in the general public’s preferences.

If there is no candidate with a clear majority at the convention, a runoff will be held between the two candidates with the highest number of votes, with the winner to be announced by March 12.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]