Chung Cheong-rae, the new leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, promised to complete prosecutorial, media, and judicial reforms before Chuseok. He stated that he would strongly support President Lee Jae-myung so that he could focus solely on state affairs, and he mentioned that he would communicate frequently with the president. He also vowed to eradicate treasonous forces and to win the local elections next year.
The Democratic Party announced the results of the party leader election at a national convention held at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on the 2nd. Representative Chung was elected as the first ruling party leader of the Lee Jae-myung government, defeating Candidate Park Chan-dae with 61.74% of the votes to 38.26%.
In his acceptance speech, Representative Chung said, "I will activate the task forces for prosecutorial reform, media reform, and judicial reform immediately after the convention, and I will complete the three major reform tasks before Chuseok." He also emphasized his determination to eradicate treason.
He remarked, "An important point we must not forget is that the treason is still not over," adding, "The emergency martial law treason incident involving Yoon Suk-yeol must never be repeated. We must eradicate treasonous forces." Representative Chung further asserted, "Just as the French Republic was not built on tolerance, Korea must thoroughly punish treasonous criminals," and he noted that the party would take the lead in exerting full effort to eradicate treason.
He also committed to helping President Lee Jae-myung succeed. Representative Chung stated, "Members of the Democratic Party of Korea and the party leader are a community of destiny with President Lee Jae-myung, who was produced by the party. The success of the Lee Jae-myung government means the success of the Democratic Party. I will do everything necessary as the party leader to ensure the party and government work together as one team."
He added, "I will take the lead and set an example in tackling difficult and challenging tasks," stating, "I will strongly support President Lee Jae-myung so that he can focus solely on state affairs."
He promised to win the local elections next year. Representative Chung said, "I will stake everything on winning the local elections next year," and "I will focus all party activities on winning the local elections." He emphasized, "The key to victory is ensuring a fair competition in the primaries," and promised, "As the party leader, I will guarantee that no candidate will shed tears over unfair cutoffs." He stressed, "The candidate selected through the most democratic process has the highest chance of winning and is the strongest candidate."
Representative Chung promised, "I will open a party of members' sovereignty and a one-person, one-vote era," and stated that he would activate the party's sovereignty task force to revise party rules, adding that one of the two recommended highest committee members will be chosen from regular party members.