Rep. Chung Sye-kyun to Become Interim Head of the Uri Party

The interim leadership of the ruling Uri Party, which will succeed resigned former Chairman Moon Hee-sang to lead the party until a temporary national convention scheduled for early next year, offered “self-reflection” as its inauguration remark.

Rep. Chung Sye-kyun who was selected as a caretaker head of the party said in a press conference that day, “We reflect on the fact that we have just argued that our direction of reforms are right, rather than persuading the public with tangible achievements of reforms.”

Prior to that, Chung also said in a meeting of policymakers, “Although we have had many achievements after the inauguration of the participatory government, we have failed to win the hearts and minds of the public.”

He added, “I asked myself whether the Uri Party and the participatory government, once the driving force of change and reform, have somehow been reduced to a group filled with complacency and empty rhetoric,” emphasizing, “As the party itself produced the crisis, it cannot do anything unless it induces change from within.”

Rep. Yoo Jay-kun of “Lawmakers’ Gathering for Stable Reform,” who was elected as an interim executive that day, also pointed out, “The root cause of the crisis is that the Uri Party, which is giving a bad impression to the public, has failed to stick to principles and win the trust of the public.”

Talking about his conversation with a senior pastor, Yoo raised the issue of the party’s identity crisis. He said, “I was greatly surprised when I heard that there may be those who want a Vietnam-style unification (within the party),” adding, “We should show the public that we practice free democracy.”

Kim Young-choon, another interim executive, also said, “The Uri Party should have established itself as a popular party loved by the public, but we have failed to do so,” emphasizing, “Our mutual goal and consensus should be to become a party loved and supported by a majority of the people by clearly establishing our goals and identity.”

With regard to the controversial issue of separating the ruling party and the government, Chung said, “We will thoroughly review whether the (principle of) ruling party-government separation has given rise to politics-related communication problems between the party and government agencies.”

Regarding the timing of a temporary national convention, he predicted, “In the current situation, next January will be good. It will be held by February at the latest.”

taewon_ha@donga.com