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Kim Moon-soo pledges institutional reforms, urges early voting

Published: 25 May. 2025, 19:10

People Power Party presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo speaks on current issues after touring the birthplace of former First Lady Yuk Young-soo in Okcheon, North Chungcheong, on May 25. [JOONGANG ILBO]

People Power Party (PPP) presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo on Sunday encouraged early voting as he pledged to establish institutional safeguards to prevent presidential interference in party affairs and build a more "horizontal" relationship between the party, government and presidential office if elected.

Kim said he would ensure rigorous oversight of the early voting process during a visit to the birthplace of former First Lady Yuk Young-soo in Okcheon, North Chungcheong. Yuk was married to former President Park Chung Hee.

"I myself will take part in early voting," Kim said in a briefing after visiting Yuk's house.

“We will mobilize all available party resources to thoroughly monitor and supervise early voting,” he said. “So please don’t worry and go vote in advance. The problems with how early voting is managed have been raised multiple times, and there have been numerous calls for reform. But the reality is that these changes cannot be implemented in time for this election.

“If people hesitate and miss their chance to vote on the main election day, that would be a huge loss. Not voting only helps a bad administration take power. I ask all citizens to vote, whether in the early voting period or on election day, and to choose Kim Moon-soo."

Kim also emphasized his intent to establish checks on presidential involvement in party affairs and to codify a more balanced power structure between the presidential power and the party.

“It is time to move away from the president-centered vertical relationship between the party and government,” he said. “We need a healthy relationship built on mutual respect and cooperation.”

People Power Party presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo tours the birthplace of former First Lady Yuk Young-soo in Okcheon, North Chungcheong, on May 25. [NEWS1]

He criticized the Yoon Suk Yeol administration for deepening intraparty conflict through top-down control.

“Presidential interference in party operations has fueled a lot of conflict,” he said. “Intervening in nominations undermines the party’s autonomy and democratic integrity, and fosters factionalism.

“When the president decides to take control of the party, that’s when democracy begins to falter. We need to decisively break with this misguided tradition.”

Kim outlined a “three-point principle” that includes party-government cooperation, separation of party and presidency and a ban on factionalism, promising to enshrine this principle in the party’s charter.

"We will explicitly prohibit presidential involvement in key party functions such as nominations, appointments and elections,” he said.

He added that he had already asked Kim Yong-tae, chairman of the PPP's emergency committee, to convene a national committee meeting to push forward immediate charter revisions.

“From now on, all party affairs will be conducted independently and autonomously according to the party’s constitution and regulations,” the candidate said. “There will be no more criticism that party operations are influenced by the president or his inner circle.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY CHO MUN-GYU [[email protected]]