단상斷想

The People Power Party's presidential candidate selection process is turning into a mess. Emergency Response Committee Chairman Kwon Young-se and Floor Leader Kwon Seong-dong are recklessly throwing one unreasonable measure after another to select their own 'unified candidate,' setting aside candidate Kim Moon-soo, who was elected through the party convention. There are even concerns that the People Power Party may end up in a situation where it cannot field a candidate in the presidential election.

How did the People Power Party's 'free-for-all,' which was triggered with less than a month left before the presidential election, go wrong and reach this point? It seems unnecessary to mention it since the pro-insurrection forces will inevitably lose in the presidential election.

Nevertheless, while watching the Kim Moon-soo-Han Duck-soo unification situation, I am faced with fundamental questions such as what choices we should make at the point where the organization's cause and the individual's beliefs clash, and how 'politics' should work in the process, so I would like to write it down (since the People Power Party is all in one boat, I am not trying to take sides or judge right or wrong).

First, let's briefly look at the origin and process of this situation. On May 3, 2025, Kim Moon-soo was officially elected as the presidential candidate for the 21st presidential election at the People Power Party convention. The final vote share was 56.53%. At this time, Kim Moon-soo and Kwon Young-se - Kwon Seong-dong (referred to as 'Double Kwon' for convenience) were on the same side, but different thoughts were stirring in each other's hearts.

Kim Moon-soo thought, 'Now I have the party leadership (priority in party affairs) until the presidential election,' and Double Kwon thought that Kim Moon-soo would step aside on his own because he had made a 'promise.' First of all, Kim Moon-soo's position is that he danced to the tastes of the mainstream during the primary, but it was only the primary, and the main election is different. Kim Moon-soo's true feelings are confirmed in Hong Joon-pyo's testimony.

Hong Jun-pyo, who retired from politics after losing the second primary and made a 'bitter remark,' seemed unable to shake off his anger even after going to the United States, and shared an important story related to this primary. Hong Jun-pyo said, "I knew four days before the second primary. Kim Moon-soo used their insidious scheme to his advantage, and from then on, I didn't want to be in this dirty game anymore."

'Their insidious scheme' seems to refer to the mainstream's scenario for extending their power, which was that 'Kim Moon-soo is just a decoy, and Han Duck-soo is the main player.' It is unclear whether 'Yoon's heart' (President Yoon Suk-yeol and Kim Kun-hee) was involved in this, but it is clear that the couple helped Kim Moon-soo as much as possible in the last primary.

Chief Spokesperson Shin Dong-wook's claim that "Candidate Kim effectively wrote a memorandum (to unify)" includes the nuance that Kim Moon-soo knew he would listen to the mainstream's words later because he helped so diligently.

About half of the People Power Party lawmakers claim that Kim Moon-soo was elected by advocating unification during the primary and effectively riding on Han Duck-soo's approval ratings, and now he has betrayed them. That's why there are complaints of "I was scammed" and "I trusted him too much." And this trend becomes a decisive opportunity to put a period on the unreasonable move to forcibly bring down traitor Kim Moon-soo.

In fact, at this point, I felt that Kim Moon-soo had made the primary itself a mess by using his 'foolish' dual rights, and therefore he had a greater responsibility. The words of a high-ranking official of the People Power Party who knows him well became an opportunity for me to solidify such 'reasonable suspicion'.

An official from the People Power Party said, "Kim Moon-soo is a unique politician. When he was young, he was a representative activist who was so dedicated to the labor movement that he would be buried there. However, his words and actions have completely changed since he wore the badge. I think he is a typical case of a person changing after tasting power. There are few politicians who have as much will to power or desire for power as Kim Moon-soo. It is just the tip of the iceberg that he revealed his authoritarianism by saying 'I am the governor' during his Gyeonggi Governor days. The expectation that Kim candidate will readily concede in this unification is a sound that comes from not knowing his true self. Unification should be based on beautiful concessions and consideration, but considering Kim Moon-soo's political history and tendencies, there is a possibility that emotion, rather than emotion, and Kim candidate's stubbornness will be major variables." This unification situation is that Kim Moon-soo's personal tendencies and his usual 'political views' were revealed as they were, resulting in the worst outcome.

As this official predicted, the candidate unification is already heading towards a gutter mud fight, beyond consideration and beauty. However, even if Kim Moon-soo is blinded by personal greed and is putting on such a disgraceful act, there are many people who did not know that Ssang Kwon would be so 'stupid' in handling things like this, even though the two have a combined political career of 8 terms.

It is almost revealed that this situation is an 'invisible order' given by 'Yoon's heart' with an eye on the next party leadership. However, the work process was so foolish and dull. The criticism that 'Kim Moon-soo was given a presidential candidate badge without knowing him' is a gentle criticism, and when drawing up the unification roadmap, the strategy or response of the other party (Kim Moon-soo) was not considered at all, and the situation went wrong because they only thought about the mainstream's position and made convenient judgments.

From the start of the primary last month, rumors spread that a unification with candidate Han Duck-soo would be pursued after the party's candidate was selected, effectively turning the party's primary into a preliminary round. The party leadership also leaned towards unification after the party convention, so the convention's success was below expectations. The seasoned Kim Moon-soo knew this better than anyone. Even knowing this, Kim Moon-soo pretended not to know and danced gracefully to the tune of the mainstream, eventually winning the presidential candidate position.

Okay, so now, whose fault is greater? Is it the fault of the "Ssang Kwon" (likely referring to a group or individuals) who saw Kim Moon-soo as a 'plaything' and tried to discard him after use, or is it Kim Moon-soo's betrayal of pretending not to know after being deceived and securing the candidate position, which is more deserving of criticism?

"To think I would ever support Kim Moon-soo, who was the head of the Taegeukgi Unit..." Figures in the progressive camp are enthusiastically supporting Kim Moon-soo. They say that the 'scheme' of the "Ssang Kwon" was wrong from the start. However, the 'naive' People Power Party lawmakers and members are simply dumbfounded and angry that the cause of 'serving the survival of the nation and the party' (which could also be read as 'Yoon's heart') is blocked by Kim Moon-soo's greed and is absurdly flying away.

Indeed, who seems like the 'bad guy' more, Kim Moon-soo or the Ssang-geon duo? For now, the model answer seems to be converging on the Ssang-geon duo's fault. Kim Moon-soo's change of heart is a matter of a politician's personal desire, but the Ssang-geon duo's incompetence is a level of negligence equivalent to organizational breach of trust for the entire party and the election. Kim Moon-soo can be dismissed as 'someone you can't associate with,' but the 'stupid' mistake committed by the Ssang-geon duo is a serious matter that could potentially lead to the dissolution of the People Power Party, which makes it even more so.

Nevertheless, I have a question. If Kim Moon-soo was initially an ‘honest’ (although this word doesn't suit the People Power Party or politics) politician, I can't help but feel a sense of regret about what would have happened if he had visited Han Duck-soo immediately after the primary and suggested, ‘Let's quickly decide on unification and cleanly concede, and the loser should help the winner,’ displaying ‘big-hearted politics.’ He has done enough in politics, so he could have had a great showdown and finished it off 멋지게.

However, since Kim Jae-won, the chief of staff, Cha Myung-jin, the former lawmaker, and Park Gye-dong, who are warming themselves by Kim Moon-soo's side, have never engaged in such politics, they are still acting as one (Kim Moon-soo announced on the 8th that he had filed an ‘injunction to prohibit the calling of a national convention’ with the court).

As we live, there are times when we experience a conflict between the cause of the organization and the individual's conviction (desire). In political parties, companies, and even families, the convictions (desires) of members sometimes conflict with the goals of the group. The more democratic a political party or the better the communication within a group, the better the 'art of empathy' is accumulated, which appropriately adjusts the interests and orientations of the organization and the individual and finds a suitable balance.

It is here that we are led to rethink the essence of politics. Politics is a kind of 'comprehensive art' that coordinates conflicts of interest between groups and organizations, and plays a role in securing the sustainability of the community by coordinating various causes and beliefs.

The true nature of politics lies in the exercise of this 'collective coordination'. Creating a new equilibrium through compromise and communication, rather than leaving the conflict between individuals and organizations as conflict, is the reason why politics exists and is the foundation of a healthy democracy. He is an 8-term lawmaker with strong influence, but he has learned politics in vain for 32 years. Is Kim Moon-soo, who revealed his human greed, pure in that respect? I wonder who the readers will think is more of a 'villain'.