Lee rejects realignment reading of 'structural majority'; Kim Min-seok backs the idea

President Lee Jae-myung met reporters at the Chunchugwan at Cheong Wa Dae on 19 October. Asked about views linking his 'structural majority' proposal to artificial political realignment, he said, in Yonhap's account, that such imagining made no sense and had no meaning. Newsis quoted him as saying the claim has 'no validity at all'. He asked whether a president's pursuit of realignment could succeed, saying one can no longer mobilise the Central Intelligence Agency (중앙정보부) to strike and investigate as in the old days. [ 1 , 3 ]

Lee said that bringing over a few lawmakers from the other side is a 'ssangpal-nyeondo' (쌍팔년도) style of realignment and would only increase resentment. By structural majority, he said, he means widening the field to one that a majority of the public can agree to. He said the reform, progressive and democratic camp is basically a minority, citing recent elections in which the Democratic Party or the wider ruling bloc did not win majority support. If it unites only among itself while centrists and part of the reasonable conservatives unite the other way, he said, regaining power is impossible. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]

Dong-A Ilbo said Lee's reference to the previous year's presidential election pointed to a result in which his 49.42 percent was 0.07 points below the combined share of the People Power Party's Kim Moon-soo (41.15 percent) and the Reform Party's Lee Jun-seok (8.34 percent). The paper said his remark that uniting only among themselves leads to becoming a structural minority appeared to rebut writer Yoo Si-min and Kim Eo-jun, who it said had called for rallying core supporters. [ 4 ]

Lee said the president's biggest task is unity and that he never said he would be a president for one side. He said he would continue reform tasks but hinted at some 'speed control', saying the lack of preparation and process management on his part was the biggest cause of the difficulties and that he reflected on possible overconfidence. Dong-A Ilbo linked the remark to the decline in approval ratings. [ 1 , 2 , 4 ]

On 21 October Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok appeared on the party's official YouTube channel and said structural majority is an essential task for consecutive rule and regaining power. He said it is entirely different from what some call realignment or poaching lawmakers, and that rallying supporters is a constant to which the question of how to expand is added. He said there are internal differences over reform priorities and strategy but none on aiming for a structural majority. On why Lee raised it now, Kim said it is a consistent position but suggested the emphasis reflected difficulties with approval ratings. [ 5 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 12 ]

Seoul Shinmun reported that Supreme Council member Han Min-su said he fully agreed with Lee. Cha Gyu-geun of the Rebuilding Korea Party (조국혁신당) agreed on working with centrists and reasonable conservatives but warned that the existing support base could be shaken if the party joined hands with groups that disappointed it. Seoul Economic Daily's headline on 22 October described a dilemma for Kim as traditional supporters drift away amid centre expansion. [ 12 , 13 ]