국민의힘, ‘지도부 총사퇴론’ 점화… 선거 패배 책임과 당내 권력 다툼의 서막 > K-wave Trends

The start of this conflict was the ‘resignation of all leadership’ made by Supreme Youth Council member Woo Jae-jun, who is classified as a close friend (Han Dong-hoon), at the Supreme Council. Commissioner Woo strongly put pressure on the leadership that they should not avoid responsibility for the results of local elections, and argued that if the current leadership completes its term, there will be insufficient time to prepare for the next general election. He pointed out that it is impossible to make practical preparations for the general election, such as recruiting talent or developing policies, under the current system, which will continue until August next year, and argued that the leadership should vacate the position for the future of the party. In particular, he did not deny the leadership of Representative Jang Dong-hyuk, but put forward a strategic proposal to calm the dissatisfaction of party members and bring about unity by going through a re-appointment process through the national convention.

There was immediate and fierce opposition from the party faction against Commissioner Woo’s unconventional proposal. Supreme Council member Cho Gwang-han criticized Commissioner Woo's remarks as "immature words" and criticized his political immaturity, while Supreme Council member Kim Min-soo also sharply criticized him, saying that his intention in making these claims in public rather than in a private meeting was for the sake of personal factional politics. This reaction is not simply a rejection of the demand for resignation, but is interpreted as an expression of the strong will of the existing leadership that holds the leadership of the party to defend its legitimacy. The heated exchanges and verbal exchanges within the conference hall clearly demonstrated how deep the emotional divide between factions within the party is deepening, and foreshadow even greater clashes over leadership in party management in the future.

Representative Jang Dong-hyuk dismissed Commissioner Woo’s request for resignation and responded with the logic that he should now focus on the national task of resolving the ‘ballot paper shortage’ rather than on leadership. Representative Jang emphasized that there is no hope in the next general election if the current controversy over the National Election Commission is not properly handled, and maintained that the party should not make the mistake of being buried in intra-party issues and missing out on really important people's livelihood and political issues. He gave credit to the entire party, saying that before discussing the leadership's future, the party's 110 lawmakers must first answer what clear solution they have to this situation. This can be read as a strong warning message that although the leadership itself is ready to resign, what is causing the current chaos is an act of encouraging division in the party.

Conflicts do not stay within the conference room but spread outside, taking on more complex aspects. Commissioner Woo met with reporters immediately after the meeting and declared that he would not give up on his claims, and raised his voice, saying that the idea that the problem can be solved only with CEO Jang is a misjudgment. He refuted that the reason he made the request for resignation public was because sufficient discussion had not already taken place in a private meeting, and did not hide his displeasure, saying that it was an unfounded remark directed at Supreme Council member Cho Gwang-han. The conflict within the party shows no signs of subsiding for some time due to conflicts between appointed and elected officials and differences in strategic decisions to win the general election.