[Anchor]
Democratic Party leadership candidates have gathered in one place for the first time. Former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok appealed for support, stating he would "support state affairs based on his rapport with the President." Former party leader Jung Chung-rae launched a counterattack, calling it "the worst form of self-serving politics to help a candidate from another party."
Reporter Go Jeong-hyeon has the story.
[Reporter]
All five leadership candidates gathered at a Democratic Party internal event yesterday afternoon (July 12).
Former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok appealed for support, saying he would back state affairs based on the rapport he has built with President Lee Jae-myung over the past three years.
[Kim Min-seok / Former Prime Minister: Within three months of me becoming party leader, I will ensure we widen the gap in approval ratings against the People Power Party...]
Representative Song Young-gil noted that while many Democratic Party lawmakers opposed the Korea-U.S. FTA pushed by the Roh Moo-hyun administration, he served as the special committee chair and delivered results.
[Song Young-gil / Democratic Party Representative: It is not important for us to engage in alibi-style reform that merely asserts certain ideologies or critiques from writers. We must produce results.]
Former party leader Jung Chung-rae, who has not yet declared his candidacy, launched a counterattack against the camps of former Prime Minister Kim and Representative Song, who had criticized him for "engaging in self-serving politics."
[Jung Chung-rae / Former Democratic Party Leader: Leaving the party during an election, helping a candidate from another party, and running as an independent—that is the worst form of self-serving politics.]
Representative Ko Min-jung highlighted that since declaring her candidacy, she has been visiting party members starting from the Gyeongbuk region, considered a "difficult territory" for the Democratic Party.
[Ko Min-jung / Democratic Party Representative: Those members (in difficult territories), who must challenge elections knowing they will likely lose, let alone compete over who is more progressive within the Democratic Party, tell me: Please embrace more of the public.]
Kim Bo-mi, former member of the Gangjin County Council in South Jeolla Province, directly criticized the 86 Generation (those who attended university in the 80s and were born in the 60s) within the Democratic Party.
[Kim Bo-mi / Former Gangjin County Council Member: In a Republic of Korea that needs to enter the top three global powers in AI, is it truly right that those who fought with Molotov cocktails and stones are still the core leadership? Isn't this something we should reflect on at least once?]
The Democratic Party discussed whether to adopt a "preferential voting system" or a "runoff voting system" to confirm the winner if no candidate secures a majority, but the Supreme Council failed to reach a conclusion again yesterday evening.
Reported by Oh Young-chun and Lee Seung-hwan | Video by Yoo Mi-ra | Produced by SBS Digital News
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