Former Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum has emerged as the leading candidate to head the presidential Committee on National Unity. The move is read as an attempt to strengthen the government's unity agenda by installing a senior politician who carries the symbolism of overcoming regionalism and of centrist reconciliation, at a time when falling approval ratings and internal friction within the ruling bloc have converged.
According to political circles on the 15th, the Presidential Office has placed Kim at the top of its list to succeed former chairman Lee Suk-yeon and is in final deliberations. Lee stepped down on the 9th after completing a one-year term. In a phone interview with Seoul Economic Daily, Kim said it was true that he had received an offer. "If I take the chairmanship, I will end up offering blunt criticism to the government as well, and I expect the government will weigh that burden and those circumstances in making its decision," he said.
Kim is a heavyweight politician from the Daegu-North Gyeongsang region within the Democratic Party. After serving three terms in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, he moved his political base to Daegu, hostile terrain for the Democratic Party, under the banner of breaking down regionalism. He lost in succession in the 2012 general election and the 2014 Daegu mayoral race, but won in Daegu's Suseong-A district in the 2016 general election, drawing praise for having chipped away at the wall of regionalism. Under the Moon Jae-in administration, he served as minister of the interior and safety and as prime minister.
In this year's June 3 local elections, he again ran as the Democratic Party candidate for Daegu mayor and took about 45% of the vote. He lost, but the decision to stake another contest in a core conservative stronghold has itself been seen as demonstrating the symbolism of unity that transcends region and political camp.
The recent slide in President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating to the 30% range, along with the simultaneous wavering of centrist voters and traditional supporters over prosecution reform and personnel appointments, is also cited as a backdrop to Kim's rise as a candidate. The Presidential Office appears to have concluded that appointing a figure from the opposing camp is not the only answer. The Yoon Suk-yeol administration tapped former Democratic Party leader Kim Han-gill, while the Lee Jae-myung administration selected conservative-leaning former Legislation Minister Lee Suk-yeon.
