KOR
▲ Democratic Party Representative Song Young-gil
Representative Song Young-gil, a pro-Lee Jae-myung party leadership candidate for the Democratic Party of Korea, refuted criticism from his rival, former Representative Jung Chung-rae, regarding his past departure from the party, stating, "My departure was to protect the Democratic Party."
Appearing on a CBS radio program today (July 14), Song addressed former Representative Jung by bringing up a 2021 incident when Song was party leader, in which Jung compared the collection of cultural heritage admission fees at Haeinsa Temple to the legendary swindler "Bong-i Kim Seon-dal."
"Regarding the Bong-i Kim Seon-dal remark, the late Venerable Jaseung even said, 'If you do not expel Jung Chung-rae, the Buddhist community will officially oppose candidate Lee Jae-myung,'" Song explained. "Despite that, he held his ground until the end, burdening the party and the candidate without offering a proper apology."
This is interpreted as an assertion that former Representative Jung burdened the party by refusing to step down despite the backlash caused by his controversial remarks.
Previously, Song left the party in 2023 amid allegations of distributing cash envelopes, but he was reinstated this year after being acquitted of all charges.
Regarding former Representative Jung's statement yesterday while announcing his bid for party leader that he "would not use the leadership position to run for president," Song criticized it, saying, "Talking about the presidential election while the current administration has four years left in its term is already out of place, and promising not to run for president to secure party leadership is completely absurd and off-topic."
He continued, "It is the first time in constitutional history that the main topic in the media is the 'Myeong-Cheong War' (a conflict between President Lee Jae-myung and Representative Jung Chung-rae) between the party leader and the president during the first year of the president's term," and emphasized, "We need a ruling party leader who can join forces with the president to upgrade the nation and create an 'irreplaceable Republic of Korea.'"
He criticized Jung, saying, "(Jung) has been campaigning for the party leadership in advance while living in the Honam region under the pretext of the last presidential election, and he put forward 800 of his own aides as candidates for various local governments to prepare for his consecutive term," adding, "It was thoroughly 'Seon-Cheong-Hu-Dang' (prioritizing Jung Chung-rae over the party)."
At a meeting with the National Honam Hometown Association today, Song pointed out, "It is absurd that the newspapers are filled with the 'Myeong-Cheong War' on the front page every day," adding, "In the past, this would be a situation where one would be beheaded as a traitor to suppress the chaos."
Regarding the Supreme Council's decision today, made after heated debate, to introduce a ranked-choice voting system for the party leadership election, he emphasized, "You can vote for Song Young-gil with peace of mind," adding, "If you vote for me and then select the next person as your second choice, integration will naturally occur."
Ranked-choice voting is a method where voters rank candidates in order of preference (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.). If no candidate receives a majority, the votes of the lowest-ranked candidate are redistributed to the voters' second-choice candidates until a final winner is determined.
Accordingly, Song holds the view that even if votes are split between himself and former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok—who are effectively building a pro-Lee Jae-myung alliance—the second-choice votes will flow to one candidate during the runoff process, effectively achieving the effect of a "unification" of candidates.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.
