[Exclusive] People Power Party member who served as youth spokesperson for Oh Se-hoon's campaign to appear on Blue House YouTube show—a first for a conservative party

[Financial News] A People Power Party member who served as youth spokesperson for Seoul mayoral candidate Oh Se-hoon's campaign during the June 3 local elections is set to appear on a Blue House YouTube program, according to reports.
According to Financial News reporting on the 9th, Shin Ju-ho, a former full-time deputy spokesperson for the People Power Party, is scheduled to appear in the seventh episode of “National Unity: We Need to Talk,” which will be held at the open studio at the Blue House's Chunchugwan Press Center at 2 p.m. on the 11th. Her Eun-a, the Blue House secretary for national unity, will host, and Shin will debate former lawmaker Kim Yong-nam on “Ways to Ease Political Conflict.” The broadcast will be livestreamed for one hour on KTV's YouTube channel.
The broadcast was organized by the Blue House Office of the Secretary for National Unity. If Shin appears, it will reportedly be the first time under the Lee Jae Myung administration that a member of a conservative party has been invited to appear on a YouTube discussion independently planned by the Blue House. The Blue House reportedly arranged the event to hear ideas for reducing the political divisions that have deepened among the public through dialogue with opposition figures.
On the 18th of last month, President Lee Jae Myung shared on X (formerly Twitter) a post by Secretary Her Eun-a, who said she also conveys the views and concerns of centrist and conservative groups to the president. Lee said, “An aide who is willing to tell a superior something necessary but potentially uncomfortable, even at personal cost, is a true aide,” and praised her, saying, “Secretary Her Eun-a is also an excellent aide who says what needs to be said, appropriately and well.”
The third episode, on September 16, featured conservative commentator Jeong Gyu-jae, former chief editorial writer at the Korea Economic Daily, and Kim Jinai, chair of the National Architecture Policy Commission. They discussed the decline in the administration's approval ratings and political polarization, among other issues. Jeong pointed out that even policy announcements and discussions that should be handled by ministers were concentrated in the hands of the president. Regarding the trials related to President Lee, he said, “The issue of withdrawing the indictment requires the consent of the people.”
Secretary Her Eun-a and former lawmaker Kim Yong-nam were formerly members of the People Power Party. They left the party in 2024 and joined the Reform Party. They later served as the Reform Party's leader and policy committee chair, respectively, and joined the Democratic Party in May last year, ahead of the presidential election.
The president's approach to communicating on social media may also come up in the debate. In the first episode of “The President's Y,” released on the 5th, Lee said that the greater a person's authority, the more those around them tend to say only positive things, adding, “I actually appreciate people who tell me things as they are.” He also explained that quoting posts critical of him can show the public contrasting viewpoints.
Disagreements over real estate policy are also expected to be on the agenda. The debate may address how politicians should reconcile the competing interests of homeowners and people without homes when discussing regulations on multiple-home owners or housing supply measures. Recently, President Lee and Mayor Oh have publicly expressed differing views on redevelopment methods.
The debate may also cover the Blue House's request for the re-nomination of a Supreme Court justice candidate and the Democrats' push for a parliamentary investigation into Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae. As calls have emerged within the judiciary for judges to state their positions on judicial independence, the National Judges Representatives Conference moved its regular meeting up to the 30th of this month from its originally scheduled date of December 7.
The Special Counsel Act on Fabricated Prosecution, which passed a plenary session of the National Assembly on the 6th under the Democrats' leadership, is also a point of contention. The Democrats say allegations of fabricated investigations and prosecutions by state agencies under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration must be investigated. The People Power Party is opposing the bill, saying it could lead to the withdrawal of indictments in cases related to President Lee.
[email protected] Seong Seok-woo and Lee Hae-ram Reporter