At the Democratic Party of Korea caucus, calls were raised for Jung Chung-rae to step down as party leader. The argument is that the party leadership should take responsibility for the June 3 local election results, in which it lost key battlegrounds. With the increasingly heated race for party leadership added to the mix, pressure on Jung to resign is mounting.
In a caucus held before the National Assembly plenary session on the morning of the 11th, Jung said, "Regarding the June 3 local election results, I said I agree with President Lee Jae-myung's assessment and perception," adding, "What we must steel ourselves to do now is to rally solidly around President Lee to make the Lee Jae-myung administration a success and to surely win back power."
After the caucus switched to a closed session, lawmakers continued with free remarks. Some noted that the party leadership should take responsibility for problems that arose during the June 3 local elections. There were also arguments that Jung should resign to ensure a fair national convention in August.
Democratic Party lawmaker Jang Chul-min said at the caucus, "I heard that Jung talked about unity at the supreme council meeting today (the 11th). But if we are to truly unite and rally party strength after the national convention, he should resign even today," adding, "It is not only Jung. The same goes for everyone responsible for managing the national convention election."
He continued, "I think we should be even more strict when it comes to holding ourselves accountable," and added, "In particular, the Seoul mayoral race was a crushing defeat both in substance and sentiment. The more serious problem is that there was no warning of any kind, no sign of any kind, from the central party."
Shin Jung-hoon of the same party was said to have criticized the leadership over the South Jeolla and Gwangju regions, saying that "the primary management was too opaque." There were also a few lawmakers who argued that "to make the national convention fair, there must be a resignation."
Momentum appears to be building for the "Jung Chung-rae resignation theory." In particular, backlash is strong over Jung's remark at the supreme council meeting on the 10th that "the people are eternal, and administrations are short."
Park Ji-won, a five-term senior Democratic Party lawmaker, appeared on MBC radio the previous day and said, "The leadership should take responsibility for the local election defeat," adding, "Jung Chung-rae and the rest of the Democratic Party leadership should all resign, take responsibility, and declare that they will not run in the (national convention)."