Song Young-gil, a member of the Democratic Party, criticized former party leader Jeong Cheong-rae on July 14, calling him a "stalker" of President Lee Jae-myung. This remark was directed at Jeong, who has dismissed the emerging narrative of a rivalry between him and Lee as fake news.
During an appearance on CBS Radio's "Park Seong-tae's News Show," Song stated, "If the other party does not agree, loving them in my own way leads to a breakup. We call that stalking." He emphasized, "According to former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, President Lee was so angry that he could not manage his expression. Isn't that stalking?"
Regarding Jeong's announcement not to run for president, Song described it as a "self-contradiction," noting that during his previous candidacy for party leader, Jeong claimed he was sacrificing for the success of the Lee administration. "What has he done to run for a party leader position that holds the nomination rights for a two-year term?" Song questioned.
He further criticized Jeong's unexpected comments about not running for president while there is still a sitting president with four years left in office, asking, "Who told him to run?"
In response to Jeong's claim that he has not engaged in self-promotion, Song asserted, "There is plenty of evidence. I will show it through TV debates. It was thoroughly self-serving." This appears to be a jab at Jeong, who has been advocating for the spirit of prioritizing the party over personal interests.
Additionally, Song challenged Jeong's assertion of being the legitimate successor of the Democratic Party, stating, "My departure was to protect the Democratic Party." He pointed out that Jeong had exacerbated anger within the Buddhist community during the last presidential election but resisted calls to apologize, asking, "Is that something to be proud of?"
* This article has been translated by AI.
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