In the first televised debate of the Democratic Party of Korea's Aug. 17 national convention, concentrated fire was trained on Jung Chung-rae, who is seeking another term. Song Young-gil and Kim Min-seok moved to check him by raising the issue of responsibility for the local elections and tensions between the party and the presidential office.
Candidates Song Young-gil, Jung Chung-rae, and Kim Min-seok (in ballot order), who are running in the Democratic Party of Korea's leadership election, held the first televised debate for party leader candidates on the 29th at MBC in Sangam, Mapo District, Seoul. The debate proceeded with Song and Kim questioning Jung's qualifications to lead the party, and Jung pushing back.
In the initiative round, Song said to Jung, "The Democratic Party has rarely allowed consecutive terms as a rule. During Lee Jae-myung's tenure as leader, a consecutive term was an unavoidable choice to protect a leading presidential contender from the harsh suppression of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration," adding, "But the reason Jung is insisting on serving another term is unclear."
He continued, "Jung says the June 3 local elections were a victory, but did they really meet expectations? The president's view and that of other lawmakers differ markedly," adding, "If Jung loves the Democratic Party, taking a break and coming back would be fine, so is there really a need to run just because he 'can do well'?"
Kim asked even sharper questions. Aiming at Jung, Kim said, "Recently, writer Yoo Si-min referred to the president as the head of just one group, insulting the party, the state, and the president. In such a situation, is it acceptable for the leadership or the party leader to have no comment?" He added, "It is the party leadership's job to sort out whether this president's expansion line is right."
He went on, "Jung is leading the most old-school factional politics. He is engaging in blatantly outdated politics called 'birthday picking' with a few supreme council members." By "birthday picking," Kim meant a strategy of dividing party members by odd and even birth months and conducting preference votes between "Choi Min-hee and Han Min-su" and "Choi Min-hee and Lee Sung-yoon," who are supreme council candidates aligned with the pro-Jung Chung-rae camp. Under the preference voting system applied to the convention, the aim is to maximize pro-Jung votes.
Jung said, "If I serve another term, I think I can do better. I believe all of that is for party members and the public to judge," adding, "Saying we lost the local elections is something that wounds the pride of party members."
He continued, "Kim says he has spoken a lot with this president, but I can say unequivocally that I have had more deep, long conversations," adding, "When Kim became the senior supreme council member, then-leader Lee Jae-myung consulted with me. I would rather he didn't trample on the cross."