Choi Min-hee: "Jung Chung-rae Is Overwhelmingly 'Pro-Lee'… How Unfair Must It Be to Frame Him as 'Anti-Lee'?"

[Choi Min-hee, Democratic Party Supreme Council Candidate]
"Gained support from party members through a strong impression as 'legendary Science and Tech Committee chair'"
"Party in a chaotic state, need a leader to hold the center firm… Kim Min-seok's line is different"
"'Lee-Jung Battle'? Wrong frame… Is Kim Min-seok himself just a proxy?"
"Should be viewed as 'Seok-Chung Battle', not 'Lee-Jung Battle'"
"If it were a real 'Lee-Jung Battle', I would have parted ways with Jung Chung-rae and lined up behind Lee"
"Lee and Jung are comrades in crisis… Should he be framed as 'anti-Lee' just because they became rivals?"
"Prosecution reform was originally DP platform… Supported naturally by members due to painful memories of Roh"
"Chung Sung-ho shouldn't say 'First time revised at light speed'"
"Discussions on supplementary investigative powers started in 2016… Chung Sung-ho knows this well"
"Instead of encouraging lawmakers fighting the prosecution, making opposing remarks is really problematic"
"How unfair must Jung Chung-rae feel? He is so 'pro-Lee' that one might wonder 'How can he like the president this much?'"
"Kim Min-seok should fully explain to the public why single-stock leveraged ETFs were introduced"
"Please vote for me as Supreme Council member based on my whole life"
"It is more important for candidate Jung Chung-rae to become party leader than for me"

■ Broadcast: SBS Pyun Sang-wook's Direct Line News (FM 103.5MHz 17:00 – 18:00)
■ Date: August 6, 2026 (Thursday)
■ Host: Pyun Sang-wook, SBS Anchor
■ Guest: Choi Min-hee, Democratic Party Supreme Council Candidate

[Pyun Sang-wook]: Welcome to Direct Interview. We are joined today by Democratic Party Supreme Council candidate Choi Min-hee. Welcome.

[Choi Min-hee]: Hello. I am Candidate No. 1, Choi Min-hee.

[Pyun Sang-wook]: You are Candidate No. 1. I don't know if it's a coincidence, but in the ongoing primary elections held in the Chungcheong region and the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam region, you came in an overwhelming first place.

[Choi Min-hee]: But you shouldn't view those votes as entirely mine. They are shared votes coming from candidate Jung Chung-rae's supporters. In this race, candidate Kim Min-seok, candidate Jung Chung-rae, and candidate Song Young-gil each have their vote bases, and there are Supreme Council candidates aligned with them. Since I am part of 'Team Jung Chung-rae' working alongside candidate Jung, his support is naturally shared with me.

[Pyun Sang-wook]: But if support is shared, wouldn't it be split more evenly? You came in first with nearly double the votes of the second-place candidate.

[Choi Min-hee]: That's because I was known as the "legendary Chair of the Science, ICT, Future Planning, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee." My work on the committee seems to have left a very strong impression on our party members.

[Pyun Sang-wook]: So it was a victory in name recognition.

[Choi Min-hee]: Other than that, those are candidate Jung Chung-rae's votes.

[Pyun Sang-wook]: Candidate Jung's votes. Why do you think Jung Chung-rae should become the party leader?

[Choi Min-hee]: We need to look at what the Democratic Party needs right now. The Democratic Party is in a state of confusion in various ways. The reasons for that confusion are complex, but everyone can see it looks chaotic. At a time like this, we need a leader who can hold the party's center firmly.

[Pyun Sang-wook]: And candidate Kim Min-seok is not that leader?

[Choi Min-hee]: His line is fundamentally different. Candidate Kim Min-seok aims to win the general election through a line of integration—uniting conservatives, moderates, and progressives. But expanding wider when things are already chaotic only accelerates the confusion. At times like this, we must consolidate our core. By solidifying our center, merging with the Rebuilding Korea Party, and forming a coalition with progressive forces, we strengthen our base. Then, as President Lee Jae-myung is doing a good job, we work well together to win public support. I support this as the correct path. You cannot win elections without a solid core.

[Pyun Sang-wook]: Since candidate Kim Min-seok isn't here, let me ask from his perspective. Candidate Kim is attacking candidate Jung Chung-rae with the frame that if Jung wins, the so-called "Lee-Jung Battle" (Lee Jae-myung vs. Jung Chung-rae) will continue, portraying Jung as a candidate who stands in conflict with the president.

[Choi Min-hee]: That is a flawed frame, and that is precisely what I find very perplexing about candidate Kim Min-seok.

[Pyun Sang-wook]: Why is that?

[Choi Min-hee]: There is no "Seok" in the "Lee-Jung Battle." He himself isn't in that name. So is he acting as a proxy for someone else?

[Pyun Sang-wook]: He was the Prime Minister at the time.

[Choi Min-hee]: That means he is saying he's a proxy. As a politician who ought to shine on one's own merit, I don't think that looks good for him. People might view it differently depending on their style, but I believe it should be viewed as a "Seok-Chung Battle." If this were truly a "Lee-Jung Battle" where the president himself were running, I would line up behind the president. Apologies to candidate Jung Chung-rae, but if the choice were between President Lee Jae-myung and candidate Jung Chung-rae, I would quickly part ways with candidate Jung and line up behind the president. That is only natural. And one shouldn't fabricate things that aren't there. Looking back at the past year, candidate Jung Chung-rae and the Lee Jae-myung administration worked in perfect harmony to accomplish many things. There was a slight difference of opinion between the party and government regarding the so-called supplementary investigative powers. That was because the president publicly suggested retaining a minimal degree of supplementary investigative powers to protect human rights. But it is problematic to view this conflict as a personal clash between leader Jung Chung-rae and the president. Democratic Party supporters and members wanted the complete abolition of supplementary investigative powers, and leader Jung faced the dilemma of not being able to ignore those voices. So making it seem as though candidate Jung and the president have long been on bad terms makes no sense. They are comrades who went through times of national crisis together, with leader Jung being the very first to call Lee Jae-myung during the emergency to tell him "This is real, you need to come right away." Just because they became competitors, should he suddenly be framed as anti-Lee? Even assuming there was a difference of opinion—yes, supporters and the president might hold different views. That was a tough time for all of us, and it was probably hardest for leader Jung. But when supporters have such a strong determination to completely abolish supplementary investigative powers in order to protect the president, can a party leader simply ignore that? So I hope candidate Kim Min-seok competes on the strength of his own content. I view this as a "Seok-Chung Battle," and asking who is the party leader needed right now—Kim Min-seok or Jung Chung-rae—I believe it is Jung Chung-rae, which is why I am standing with him.

[Pyun Sang-wook]: Speaking of the supplementary investigative powers issue, let's address that overall. Why do the Democratic Party's so-called staunch members believe that supplementary investigative powers must be stripped entirely from the prosecution?

[Choi Min-hee]: You shouldn't frame that as a question just for supporters. The prosecution reform issue, as far as I can recall, has been a key agenda for the reformist camp and the Democratic Party since the mid-1990s. But because the Democratic Party was always in the minority, it could not pass this in the National Assembly. The first time it was processed was after the Democratic Party won a landslide victory in the 2020 general election. Prior to that, a partial adjustment of investigative authority between the prosecution and police was made after the Democratic Party became the largest party by a one-seat margin in 2016. Then in 2020, the Democratic Party shifted its stance to complete removal of prosecutorial investigative powers ("Geomsu Wanbak"). We kept telling supporters that this was right, and we ran in that direction for six years. That logic was fully accepted and shared by supporters, so to them it now looks as if the Democratic Party is suddenly reversing its stance. Furthermore, from the supporters' perspective, there is the painful memory of President Roh Moo-hyun. That is why they feel prosecution reform is absolutely necessary. They recognize that the police may have issues as well, but those can be complemented through other measures. There is a very strong perception among supporters that if prosecution reform is not completed now by completely stripping the prosecution of investigative authority, the prosecution will react with even greater backlash to squeeze figures of the democratic government. The root cause of that sentiment is the painful memory of President Roh Moo-hyun. And this was virtually party platform. I was actually shocked when people claimed it wasn't party platform. It was party platform for all of us. So to our supporters, it is only natural.

[Pyun Sang-wook]: But this will eventually be promulgated as law and take effect on October 2. Ever since this bill was introduced, critics—especially concerning victims of sex crimes against women—have pointed out that if the police bury a case, there will be no way to uncover it.

[Choi Min-hee]: There is a way.

[Pyun Sang-wook]: Is there?

[Choi Min-hee]: We supplemented all of that.

[Pyun Sang-wook]: How?

[Choi Min-hee]: Committee Chair Seo Young-kyo met with all those people. Did those victims trust the prosecution and distrust the police? That wasn't it. They asked for victim relief measures. So we developed those relief measures one by one, meticulously crafting remedies into individual laws, all of which were reported during the process of adopting it as party platform at the general meeting of lawmakers. With all due respect, the abolition of supplementary investigative powers is not my area of expertise. No matter how much you ask me, I can only convey the stance of our supporters and party members. Also, calling them "staunch members" is problematic. Before this recently became an issue, a majority of the public also supported stripping the prosecution of its investigative power. The landscape shifted somewhat recently, but once we fully explain the victim protection measures that have been added, things may change again. So saying that only "staunch members" hold this view is an insult.

[Pyun Sang-wook]: I retract that remark. However, with the complete removal of prosecutorial investigative powers and supplementary investigative powers becoming a key issue ahead of the party convention, critics say a bill directly affecting citizens' daily lives was handled too hastily. Even Minister of Justice Chung Sung-ho remarked, "I've never seen a bill revised at the speed of light like this."

[Choi Min-hee]: Justice Minister Chung Sung-ho shouldn't say such things. Do you know when discussions on this bill began? It started back in 2016. He was in the party back then too, so how can he say that now? Although I must speak carefully since this isn't my specialty, that is simply not true. Look at how much this bill was debated within the Democratic Party. The members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee debated tirelessly. You shouldn't dismiss that effort. We deliberated as much as possible and delayed as long as possible. When you look at the process, knowing how terrifying it is for lawmakers to stand up and fight against the prosecution—the prosecution is such a fearful entity that can manufacture non-existent charges—instead of giving strength to those lawmakers fighting political prosecution, making such statements is really problematic.

[Pyun Sang-wook]: Are you saying Minister Chung Sung-ho was in the wrong?

[Choi Min-hee]: Not that he was wrong, but that he was going too far.

[Pyun Sang-wook]: You mean he misspoke.

[Choi Min-hee]: No, I dislike such characterizations. Please take my words as they are. Lawmaker Kim Yong-min, Lawmaker Park Eun-jung, and former Judiciary Committee Chair Choo Mi-ae—they took on the difficult task of standing up to the prosecution. Given how many misdeeds political prosecutors committed, for him to speak as if political prosecutors are suddenly apostles of justice is something I simply cannot accept.

[Pyun Sang-wook]: I will take your words as stated. Now, let's look at the overall atmosphere of the party convention. Watching yesterday's second TV debate, I was surprised by the dynamic—it looked like a 2-on-1 matchup. Candidates Song Young-gil and Kim Min-seok seemed to act virtually as a team, leaving candidate Jung Chung-rae fighting alone. Candidate Jung originally said he would use "language of comrades" and avoid negative campaigning, but recently his tone has grown quite fierce.

[Choi Min-hee]: What else is he supposed to do? When people keep framing him as "anti-Lee," how unfair must that feel? He was party leader when I passed the Broadcasting Act. Even then, his fundamental mindset was that the president's intent was paramount. As the ruling party, we had to consult with the presidential office's broadcasting team and the government, debating thoroughly to complete the bill. But he earnestly requested that if stances diverged in the end, we should follow the president's will. I communicated sufficiently and passed those difficult three broadcasting laws. Throughout that process, someone like me—who spent years in civic activism and is known as a civic activist as much as a politician—thought he was so overwhelmingly pro-Lee that it almost felt excessive, making me wonder "How can he like the president this much?" Yet when he is framed as anti-Lee, he has to defend himself at least out of self-defense. And whenever I watch the 2-on-1 dynamic in the debates, I wonder why it turns out like that. For example, regarding single-stock leveraged ETFs, candidate Kim Min-seok introduced them during his tenure as Prime Minister, and candidate Song Young-gil even questioned Kim in the last debate asking if it wasn't introduced recklessly. Then shouldn't the question focus on why it was introduced that way? Among all the topics discussed in the debate, I believe that point was the most directly connected to people's livelihoods and public interest.

[Pyun Sang-wook]: Right.

[Choi Min-hee]: Who introduced single-stock leveraged ETFs, why, and when? That needs to be debated in depth; shielding it or brushing it off is not right. I want to publicly ask candidate Kim Min-seok right now: He must explain in detail to the public why he introduced single-stock leveraged ETFs at that time.

[Pyun Sang-wook]: Many citizens were quite disappointed regarding that issue. Do you think Presidential Chief of Staff for Policy Kim Yong-beom should be dismissed over the introduction of leveraged ETFs?

[Choi Min-hee]: I don't have enough data right now to comment on that directly. But the facts must be brought to light. First, the former Prime Minister should state the facts, and then those responsible should take responsibility. We first need to confirm how much of a role Chief Kim Yong-beom played.

[Pyun Sang-wook]: We only have 20 seconds left. In 20 seconds, why should Choi Min-hee become a Supreme Council member, and how will you serve?

[Choi Min-hee]: I believe party members will vote for me as Supreme Council member looking at my whole life. More importantly than my election, I believe it is far more vital for candidate Jung Chung-rae to become party leader—someone who can honestly establish the Democratic Party's center and anchor us as a true reform party in the spirit of Lee Hae-chan.

[Pyun Sang-wook]: That was Democratic Party Supreme Council candidate Choi Min-hee on Direct Interview. Thank you for your time.

[Choi Min-hee]: Thank you.

[Pyun Sang-wook]: I am Pyun Sang-wook, and I will see you tomorrow at 5 p.m. sharp. Thank you.

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[SBS Pyun Sang-wook's Direct Line News]
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.