[Anchor]

Former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok directly criticized former party leader Jung Chung-rae today (July 6) while announcing his bid for the Democratic Party leadership. He argued that the negative effects of self-serving politics have caused confusion within the party, to which former leader Jung responded by stating he would not engage in negative campaigning. As the race for the next party leadership heats up, the "one member, one vote" system and the sentiment of voters in the Honam region are being cited as key variables.

Reporter Kim Kwan-jin has the story.

[Reporter]

Former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok announced his candidacy for the next Democratic Party leadership at the Jeonil Building in Gwangju Metropolitan City, a site that still bears bullet marks from martial law troops during the May 18 Democratization Movement.

[Kim Min-seok/Former Prime Minister: Perfect alignment between the party and the government, along with a pragmatic approach to people's livelihoods, is the essential path verified by the four previous democratic administrations.]

He urged for a decisive change in leadership, arguing that the party failed to translate support for President Lee Jae-myung into election results. He also aimed his criticism at his rival for the party leadership, former leader Jung Chung-rae.

[Kim Min-seok/Former Prime Minister: Over the past year, the negative effects of self-serving politics have caused confusion in party-government cooperation.]

In response, former leader Jung posted on social media that he "will not engage in negativity and will use the language of a comrade."

Instead, Supreme Council member Lee Sung-yoon, a close ally of Jung, stepped forward to criticize Kim, stating, "It is deplorable to see a candidacy announcement filled only with blaming others and criticism," and asked, "Why did you not participate in the National Assembly's vote to lift martial law at the time?"

Another contender for the party leadership, Representative Song Young-gil, was spotted at the National Assembly today holding a draft of his candidacy announcement.

The key variables for the Democratic Party leadership election, set to be held on August 17, are analyzed to be the "one member, one vote" system and the sentiment of Honam party members.

Unlike last year's leadership election, where one vote from a delegate was worth approximately 17 times more than one vote from a regular party member, this year's votes will be weighted equally at 1 to 1. As a result, there is a high possibility that competition will intensify over "clarity" and ideological stance to appeal to party members, rather than relying on organizational power centered around incumbent lawmakers.

As of last November, the Democratic Party had approximately 1.645 million registered party members.

With an estimated 30 percent of these members based in the South Jeolla and Gwangju regions and about 15 percent in North Jeolla, analysts suggest that the "votes of Honam party members" will determine the outcome of the next party leadership race.

(Reported by Oh Young-chun and Kim Yong-woo | Video edited by Jang Hyun-ki)