The People Power Party held a general meeting to discuss party reforms, but a truth war has erupted over whether Chairperson Yoon Hee-sook attended. The leadership stated that Chairperson Yoon did not respond to the invitation to the meeting, while Yoon claimed that this was not true. The atmosphere surrounding the People Power Party's reform plan is already facing a risk of being derailed even before discussions began.
Kwak Kyu-taek, the senior spokesperson for the People Power Party, told reporters after the general meeting held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 23rd, "I believe that discussions are possible only if the Chairperson attends the general meeting to explain the content of the reform plan and the reasons it is necessary, so we decided to discuss it again in the next general meeting."
He added, "There was an opinion that it might be difficult to discuss because the attending lawmakers do not know the specific details. Today, we reached a consensus that it would be difficult to discuss any content, so we concluded the meeting early."
In response to the question, "What was the reason Chairperson Yoon Hee-sook did not come?" he said, "I contacted her about the general meeting, but I understand she did not respond about her attendance," adding that "the person who contacted Chairperson Yoon said so directly."
Chairperson Yoon, who learned of the remarks through media reports, immediately protested. She reportedly responded, "I would be happy to attend," to the contact regarding the general meeting from Park Soo-min, the chief secretary of the People Power Party. Rather, when Chairperson Yoon later inquired whether she could attend due to the lack of further communication, she merely received the response from the party leadership that "we need to discuss it."
That day, Chairperson Yoon stated on Facebook, "I was called to the People Power Party's general meeting but didn't attend, and articles are emerging that the discussion fell through because of this, which is not true," adding, "I was surprised about this situation and called the chief secretary, who told me, 'It is impossible for the chairperson of the emergency committee to bravely call the reform chairperson alone.'"
She emphasized, "I do not understand why the chairperson of the emergency committee needs tremendous courage to invite the reform chairperson to explain at the general meeting," and added, "Moreover, I would like to clarify that the briefing claiming she did not come when invited is also not true."
The People Power Party's reform plan has been plagued with noise before discussions even began. Initially, the People Power Party intended to hold a general meeting on the 20th to discuss the reform plan, but the leadership postponed it citing the need for disaster recovery support. The schedule for the next general meeting has not yet been determined.
Kwak, the senior spokesperson, stated, "It seems difficult to hold another general meeting today," adding, "We plan to arrange a general meeting soon for the reform chairperson to provide an explanation."