Kim Do-eup, the People Power Party's Policy Committee Chairman, speaks at a party leadership meeting at the National Assembly on the 19th. [Photo=Yonhap News]

Kim Do-eup, the chairman of the People Power Party's Policy Committee, resigned, sparking various interpretations. Some suggested a crack in the party leadership, while others analyzed it as a signal of ideological conflict.

However, viewing this resignation solely as a personal decision or a political message oversimplifies the issue.

Kim Do-eup's resignation highlights the limitations of the People Power Party's internal structure, rather than an individual's choice.

Kim Do-eup was a relatively suitable figure for the Policy Committee Chairman role. He had weak factional ties, avoided open confrontation, and treated policy as an object for coordination and explanation rather than a political weapon. He can be assessed as being closest to the role of a 'communicator' that an opposition party's policy chief should originally fulfill.

Nevertheless, the fact that he stepped down demonstrates that this position is not one that can be sustained by the capabilities of a specific individual.

In an opposition party, the Policy Committee Chairman is not a policy designer. This is because the opposition party's policies are a matter of deployment rather than execution.

More important than what to create is when to release it, within what frame to present it, and where to stop. The core function is strategic, translating policy into political language and deploying it according to the flow of political events.

However, the People Power Party's policy committee has long been solidified as a position that bears responsibility but lacks authority.

At the center of this structure is the Yeouido Institute. While the Yeouido Institute, the People Power Party's official think tank, has been diligent in policy research and data production, it is difficult to see it functioning as a strategic institution.

Reports accumulate, but the judgment of when to write and when to shelve policies is not organized. It explains the coherence of policies but lacks the function of calculating political effects. It is a state of having research but no strategy.

Looking at who the current head of the Yeouido Institute is reveals the current state of the People Power Party.

The fact that the head of the institute is someone strong in policy execution and administrative experience shows that this organization is still perceived as a 'policy coordination window' rather than a 'strategy production base'.

This is not a matter of individual capability, but rather a scene that fully reveals what role the People Power Party has expected from the Yeouido Institute.

At this point, the difference with the Democratic Research Institute of the Democratic Party becomes clear.

The Democratic Research Institute has gone beyond being a mere policy research institute to serve as a strategic brain for the party leader. It deploys policies according to election phases and changes in the political climate, and jointly designs the direction and timing of messages. The director of the Democratic Research Institute is closer to a strategic aide than a research institute director.

This difference stems not from individual capabilities, but from the difference in the roles assigned to the research institute by the political party.

The People Power Party has intentionally separated policy research and strategy. During election periods, the Yeouido Institute virtually fails to make its presence felt beyond its role in opinion polling. Strategists cannot grow in a structure where the research institute remains confined to policy research, and the policy committee bears the responsibility.

Attempts at strategic judgment were met with the assessment of "deviating from policy," and attempts at coordination were followed by criticism of "lacking fighting spirit." As a result, communicative figures are exhausted, and the position of Policy Committee Chairman has repeatedly experienced vacancies and changes.

Therefore, returning to discussions about appointing a new Policy Committee Chairman after Kim Do-eup's resignation bypasses the core issue.

The problem is not who sits in the position, but what the person who sits there can do. As long as the Yeouido Institute remains merely a repository of policy data, the Policy Committee Chairman will inevitably continue to serve as a shield.

The question posed by Kim Do-eup's resignation is simple.

Is the People Power Party prepared to produce strategy? Does it have the will to transform from an organization that explains policy answers to an organization that politically utilizes policy?

A political party does not revive by changing people. If the structure does not change, personnel changes are consumed.

Kim Do-eup's resignation is an event that once again reveals those structural limitations.

What needs to be asked now is not "Who will be the next Policy Committee Chairman?" but "Why is the People Power Party unable to create strategy?"

Reporter Kim Young