As the Democratic Party prepares for its upcoming convention, former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok and former party leader Jeong Cheong-rae engaged in a heated exchange in Honam, a region critical to the party's fortunes. With the election just a month away, tensions are escalating.
On July 10, Kim attended a meeting of the Jeonbuk Provincial Party's executive committee in Jeonju, where he acknowledged the challenges faced during the local elections, stating, "There were painful and conflicting processes in achieving victory during the 6.3 local elections."
This remark appears to reference the conflicts that arose during the Jeonbuk gubernatorial primary, particularly the swift expulsion of former Jeonbuk Governor Kim Kwan-young over allegations of bribery, which led him to run as an independent. Additionally, there were protests from defeated candidate Ahn Ho-young, who called for an investigation into allegations of meal expense reimbursements involving incumbent Governor Lee Won-taek. Concerns about the fairness of the actions taken against Lee, seen as aligned with the pro-Lee faction, have also surfaced.
Kim emphasized the need for unity, saying, "We must create a future that brings everything together as one," and expressed his commitment to the heavy responsibility of leadership.
He further stated, "We cannot engage in self-serving politics right now. Everyone must support President Lee Jae-myung. If not, we risk becoming anti-Lee." Kim has previously criticized Jeong for pursuing self-serving politics during his tenure as party leader.
Kim also expressed concern about the party's future, saying, "While we achieved good results in the last election in Jeonbuk, I worry about whether we can win again. We need to pursue greater unity to secure victory."
In response, Jeong countered, "As far as I remember, we won the largest victories in Jeonbuk. We elected regional heads and won in 14 local governments. All provincial assembly members from our region were elected."
Jeong added, "If we cannot unite internally, how can we expand externally? We need to gather supporters of former Presidents Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, Moon Jae-in, and President Lee Jae-myung to achieve internal unity and seek alliances outside the party. In the recent local elections, we won through unity and lost through division."
His comments seem to reference the proposed merger with the Justice Innovation Party, which he has been advocating. Kim, however, has expressed the need for a more integrative approach to any merger.
Kim criticized Jeong's merger strategy during a recent appearance on the YouTube channel "Kim Eo-jun's Humble News Factory," stating, "The way he announced it was like a bombshell, which complicated matters. I believe his excessive ambition led to the complications."
As the convention approaches, Kim has declared his candidacy alongside lawmakers Song Young-gil, Ko Min-jeong, and former Gangjin County Council Chair Kim Bo-mi. Jeong is also expected to announce his candidacy soon.
Additionally, there are noticeable differences between the pro-Lee and pro-Jeong factions regarding the convention's procedures. The pro-Lee faction has reportedly expressed discontent over the primary schedule starting in Jeong's home region of Chungcheong, while the pro-Jeong faction has criticized the preference voting system and the youth supreme committee system.
The preference voting system allows voters to rank their top three candidates on a single ballot. If a candidate receives a majority in the first round, they are declared the winner; if not, the votes are counted for the next choices. Some analysts suggest this system may favor the pro-Lee faction.
The youth supreme committee involves electing one of the five supreme committee members separately, with the same voting rules as for the party leader and supreme committee elections. If there are four or more candidates, a preliminary election is held to select three, with the highest vote-getter winning.
While the preference voting system and youth supreme committee system have been approved by the preparatory committee, they are currently under re-evaluation due to opposition from the pro-Jeong faction and are pending in the supreme committee. Han Byeong-do, the acting party leader and floor leader, is expected to reach a conclusion on the matter soon. There are speculations that the pro-Lee faction may take further action if the proposals are rejected.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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