Cho Seung-rae, secretary-general of the Democratic Party of Korea, stressed that so-called "Yoon Suk-yeol kids" who appeared alongside former President Yoon Suk-yeol among metropolitan mayors and governors should be removed, 100 days before the June 3 local elections. Regarding the recent life sentence without parole in the first trial for Yoon's alleged leadership of insurrection, he said the People Power Party still does not recognize the Dec. 3 martial law as insurrection and mentioned dissolving the party.
On the morning of the 22nd at the National Assembly, the secretary-general held a "D-100 local election press briefing" and said, "Ending the insurrection and thorough punishment remain tasks, and this local election is politically meaningful in completing that."
He went on, "In eight places—Incheon, Daejeon, South Chungcheong, North Chungcheong, Sejong, Gangwon, South Gyeongsang, and Ulsan—the People Power Party's metropolitan mayors and governors are people who emerged from the local elections held just a month after Yoon took office," adding, "They are truly utterly incompetent 'Yoon Suk-yeol kids,' and they should exit along with Yoon Suk-yeol's exit."
Aiming at the mayors of Seoul and Busan, the secretary-general also said, "Since they were reelected, it is hard to call them Yoon Suk-yeol kids, but there must be an assessment and judgment on the incompetence they have shown over the past four years," adding, "This local election should be one that punishes the insurrection to the end and judges incompetent mayors and governors."
Regarding People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok's response to the first-trial ruling for the former president, he said, "Wouldn't dissolving the party still not be enough?" adding, "A president produced by the People Power Party carried out a praetorian coup, yet the leader still does not acknowledge it. Can that party mired in the Galápagos be called a public political party?"
The Democratic Party has created an artificial intelligence (AI) strategy team within the local election planning unit. The AI strategy team will review news, opinion polls, and online communities related to the local elections. At the regional level, it will support AI strategies and policies.
Areas classified as strategic regions, such as Busan, Ulsan, South Gyeongsang, and Gangwon, plan to decide on candidates earlier than the April 20 "nomination deadline." Regions where administrative integration is being pursued, such as South Chungcheong–Daejeon, South Jeolla–Gwangju, and Daegu–North Gyeongsang, will adjust primary schedules according to the integration timetable.
The secretary-general said, "With interviews for metropolitan mayor and governor candidates to be conducted on the 23rd–24th, the full-fledged schedule for nominations will begin," adding, "Whether it is the party leader, a city or provincial party chair, or a regional chair, we will block the arbitrary exercise of nomination authority beyond their authorized powers."