As the first touring primary to elect the next leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea kicked off on the 1st in the Chungcheong region, pro-Myeong supreme council candidates, including former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, collectively went on the offensive targeting candidate Jung Chung-rae.
Former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok unleashed unrestrained criticism at former Chair Jung Chung-rae during a joint speech at the Democratic Party's 3rd National Party Members' Convention held on the afternoon of the 1st in Cheongju, North Chungcheong. He said, "President Lee Jae-myung apologized, saying he was sorry for failing to win where he needed to be the first in the entire ruling camp to win," and added, "If the local elections (results for metropolitan mayors and provincial governors) had come out 15 to 1, it would have been certain that this marked the beginning of a golden age in the history of the Republic of Korea starting under the Lee Jae-myung administration."
He then took aim at the former chair for not defining the local election results as a defeat, pointing out, "How much pain and disappointment did (the 12 to 4 result) bring us? Shouldn't there be at least that level of empathy?"
He also addressed former Roh Moo-hyun Foundation Chairman Yoo Si-min, who said President Lee is "heading down a path of inevitable failure" through redevelopment and reconstruction theories and the ABC theory. Former Prime Minister Kim said, "The labeling of 'anti-Myeong,' the labeling of 'divisionism' is itself divisionism," and asked in return, "With the ABC theory, who split first?"
He continued, "If President Lee Jae-myung's reforms are so reformist that, for the first time ever, they reflect the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union, then we should support the president and it is right to firmly punish those who criticize and condemn this," and added, "If we cannot call 'anti-Myeong (anti–Lee Jae-myung)' what it is, how can that be the leadership?"
Supreme council candidates also joined in "going after Jung Chung-rae." Candidate Seo Mi-hwa said, "The leader of a ruling party that produced the president must not remain silent toward those who shake the president," adding, "As leader, there is a clear responsibility to state a position." She continued, "If we hand the Democratic Party back to the former chair who abdicated that responsibility, what will become of the Democratic Party?"
Candidate Park Sun-won also said, "Can we say with confidence that our party has truly served the will of the people over the past year?" and added, "When there was a crisis and problems arose, did we respond with agility?"