Minister Kang Sun-woo, the nominee for the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, has voluntarily resigned, but the aftershock shows no sign of subsiding. Ahead of the Democratic Party of Korea's party representative election scheduled for August 2, the issue has escalated into a controversy around 'reminders.' There are also analyses suggesting that the core support base of the Democratic Party is fracturing over the Kang Sun-woo incident.
Amid the controversy surrounding Minister Kang's voluntary resignation, the Democratic Party of Korea's representative candidate, Park Chan-dae, has positioned himself as the 'messenger of reminders.' In contrast, another candidate, Jeong Cheong-rae, has emphasized 'loyalty.' The Democratic Party has maintained a state of unification under pro-Park forces for years following the 'killing of a pro-Park candidate,' but it seems this trend is starting to fracture.
Looking at the behind-the-scenes developments leading up to Minister Kang's resignation, the emerging trend becomes even more evident. Just before Minister Kang announced her resignation, Representative Park wrote on Facebook, 'Minister Kang Sun-woo must make a decision herself.' This was at 3:30 p.m. Then, 17 minutes later, at 3:47 p.m., Minister Kang announced her resignation. It appeared that Representative Park was urging Kang's resignation to alleviate the pressure on the presidential office.
A member of Park Chan-dae's camp, Representative Noh Jong-myeon, posted on Facebook that he fully agrees with the statement that 'comrades are those who share the rain and shed tears together,' but noted that 'despite knowing it would become difficult to publicly offer a word of comfort to fellow representatives, the good Park Chan-dae acted coldly. I suppose those in the shadows who have lived as aides also had the thought that they too are comrades, which must have been a warm and stirring feeling.'
In contrast, Representative Jeong comforted Minister Kang and emphasized loyalty. He stated on Facebook, 'I personally comfort the human Kang Sun-woo,' saying, 'What is a comrade? To win together when winning, and to lose together when losing. To share the rain when it rains.'
Following Minister Kang's resignation, a 'money tip' has ignited the reminders controversy within the political arena. The content was an article titled 'Expected Scenario if Jeong Cheong-rae is Elected as Party Representative,' which suggested that if Representative Jeong is elected, former Representative Jeong Hae-cheol will run in the Ansan-gap by-election to enter the National Assembly. It then stated that former Representative Jeong Hae-cheol's candidacy for the next party representative could lead to a glorious revival of the pro-Moon (Lee Nak-yon) faction.
It appears to be a psychological warfare that takes advantage of the strong aversion toward the 'watermelon' faction, which refers to the non-mainstream within the core support base of the ruling party. One opposition party member commented, 'It seems that a fierce battle of public opinion is unfolding among the candidates ahead of the Democratic Party of Korea's national convention,' adding, 'They seem to be competing over who can be closer to the presidential office.'
The presidential office currently appears to be keeping its distance from the party representative election. It revealed in a briefing that approximately one hour before Representative Park posted his call for Minister Kang's resignation, Kang had already expressed her intention to resign to the presidential office. This explanation rendered Representative Park's statement somewhat meaningless.
The Democratic Party of Korea's party representative election will take place on August 2. Initially, joint preliminary elections were scheduled for the Honam region and the Gyeonggi-Incheon region on the 26th and 27th of this month, but considering the damage from heavy rainfall, they have decided to conduct joint preliminary elections in Seoul, Gangwon, and Jeju on August 2. In the preliminary elections held earlier in the Chungcheong and Yeongnam regions, Candidate Jeong led Candidate Park by a large margin. While many expect the situation to tilt toward Candidate Jeong, the key issue will be how many votes Representative Park can secure amid the controversy over Kang's resignation.
A ruling party aide noted, 'It seems that regardless of who becomes the party representative, it will be impossible to prevent the fragmentation of the internal support base starting from this election,' and added, 'While this was expected after seizing power, the Kang Sun-woo incident has accelerated the timeline.'