At a debate held ahead of a by-election to choose supreme council members of the Democratic Party of Korea, tensions flared between the party leadership faction and the non-leadership faction.
On the 30th, at the central party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, the Democratic Party held a joint debate attended by five candidates for supreme council member. This by-election was organized to fill the vacancies left by former supreme council members Jeon Hyun-hee, Han Joon-ho, and Kim Byung-joo, who resigned to run in local elections.
Five candidates entered the race to elect three supreme council members. Lawmakers Moon Jung-bok and Lee Sung-yoon are classified as pro-leadership, while lawmakers Kang Deuk-gu and Lee Geon-tae and Busan Suyeong-gu district chair Yoo Dong-chul are classified as pro-Lee Jae-myung (non-leadership). The debate that day saw fierce sparring between the leadership and non-leadership factions.
Lee Sung-yoon, a leadership-faction candidate, stressed that the party should unite around Jung Chung-rae, the party leader. Lee said, "Our guns must be aimed at the forces of insurrection," and added, "We must complete reform with a Democratic Party united as one and win the local elections." Lee also expressed support for the "one person, one vote system" being pushed by Jung.
Similarly, leadership-faction candidate Moon Jung-bok said, "With the solid cohesion of the Jung Chung-rae leadership chosen by party members, we will drive the success of the Lee Jae-myung administration through victory in the local elections."
Non-leadership candidates said the party should rally around the president. Kang Deuk-gu said, "The success of the Lee Jae-myung administration is the success of the Democratic Party and the Republic of Korea," adding, "For a landslide victory in the local elections, the liquidation of insurrection, and people's livelihoods, the party, government, and presidential office must stand tall as one team."
Candidate Lee Geon-tae referenced his experience as the president's attorney, saying, "As an attorney, I shared life-and-death ups and downs with the president," and added, "I will create a party-government hotline to ensure the success of the Lee Jae-myung administration." Candidate Yoo Dong-chul also introduced himself as "Lee Jae-myung's talent," emphasizing, "Yeongnam, Gangwon, and parts of Chungcheong are the last habitat of the forces of insurrection. For the Democratic Party to win in tough districts, a candidate who knows regional strategy must become a supreme council member."
There were also direct verbal clashes between candidates. Candidate Yoo Dong-chul took aim at candidate Lee Sung-yoon, and candidate Moon Jung-bok targeted candidate Kang Deuk-gu.
Yoo Dong-chul brought up Lee Sung-yoon's remarks at a joint campaign speech on the 23rd that "shaking the leadership is the same as the forces of insurrection who want our party to split," and demanded, "Withdraw from the race or at least apologize to the party members who were hurt." Yoo also directly accused Lee of "having no qualifications to be a supreme council member."
Moon Jung-bok said, "At the very grim time when the arrest motion for leader Lee Jae-myung was passed, I blocked it by circulating a petition," adding, "At that time, I have no memory of candidate Kang Deuk-gu being with us." Kang fired back, saying, "I also fought at the very forefront then," and added, "You must speak based on facts."