Is it the power of the pro-Park faction?

Yoon Sang-hyun, a deputy floor leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, had a book publishing event at the National Assembly Library in Yeouido, Seoul, on Thursday afternoon. The underground hall where the event was held was packed. The hallway from the entrance of the library to the underground hall was filled with people for the event and a traffic jam on the road in front of the library was caused by 30 to 40 visitors’ cars.

Many ruling and opposition party politicians came to the event. It proved the power of Yoon, the key person of the pro-Park Geun-hye faction in the ruling party. The visitors included Hwang Woo-yeo, the ruling party leader, Choi Kyoung-hwan, the ruling party’s floor leader, Rep. Seo Cheong-won, Rep. Kim Moo-sung, and Rep. Lee Wan-koo, Jun Byung-hun, the main opposition Democratic Party’s floor leader, and Jeong Seong-ho, the party’s deputy floor leader. Around 70 ruling and opposition lawmakers attended the event and Ahn Sang-soo, a former Incheon mayor, Education Minister Seo Nam-soo, and Jeong Jin-seok, the secretary-general of the national Assembly. Some lawmakers had hard time finding a seat because 299 seats were all taken. When Hwang, the ruling party’s leader, said in a congratulatory speech, “If we could have predicted many guests like this, we would have rent Sejong Art Center. It took me 30 minutes to get here.” Choi, the party’s floor leader, said, “I’ve never seen this many people since a presidential candidate’s event.”

Yoon’s 2,500 books were sold out soon after the event began. A second-time lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic Party, who came to the book event, said, “I was a little late but I couldn’t get a book. I just paid money.” The money raised by selling books is practically political contributions because it is not subject to the Political Funds Act. A source from the ruling party said, “A lawmaker sold 1,000 books at his book event and raised 300 million won (282,600 dollars). Yoon must have raked in more than double of what he raised.”