Kim Min-seok, a candidate for the Democratic Party leadership and former Prime Minister [sic], has launched a counterattack against the pro-Jung Chung-rae faction, which has been criticizing his absence from the National Assembly's vote to lift the December 3 martial law, stating, "It feels exactly like the Daejang-dong era."

In a KBS radio interview on the 7th, Kim responded to the criticism, saying, "I wondered, 'Who in the People Power Party is saying this?'"

His remark compares the attacks from the pro-Jung Chung-rae faction regarding his absence from the martial law vote to the past criticisms leveled by the People Power Party and others against President Lee Jae-myung [sic] over the Daejang-dong scandal.

Previously, Kim had mentioned the possibility of martial law being declared even before the December 3, 2024, martial law incident, but he was absent from the National Assembly's vote to lift the martial law when the situation actually occurred.

He later explained that he had taken cold medicine and was sleeping at the time.

Regarding this, Representative Lee Sung-yoon of the pro-Jung Chung-rae faction attacked him the previous day, saying, "You said you took cold medicine and went to sleep, but what was in the medicine? They say you can wake up someone who is sleeping, but you cannot wake up someone who is pretending to sleep. Is that the case?"

In response, Kim stated on this day, "At the time of the vote, I was inside the National Assembly, and I took my seat in the plenary chamber immediately after the vote." He added, "What Representative Lee is saying is, 'Why didn't you come there (to the National Assembly) after receiving a call regarding martial law?'" and claimed this was "defamation based on false information."

Regarding the '100 Questions, 100 Answers' YouTube series he is conducting as part of his campaign, Kim introduced it as "an initiative to allow people to ask me anything."

He further remarked, "The internal culture of the party has become a bit strange, with derogatory labels, divisiveness, and completely false news circulating," adding, "The intention is to clear those things up."

Explaining the background behind his emphasis on party innovation, he asked, "Prosecution reform is important, but we must not make people feel that the Democratic Party has no other agenda," and questioned, "Has the past year really given the impression of effectively supporting (the government)?"

Regarding Lee Byung-tae, the former vice-chairman of the Regulatory Rationalization Committee who resigned after sparking controversy with his remark that "May 18 is not a sanctuary," Kim said, "His resignation was inevitable," and proposed, "Let us take this opportunity to pursue a two-point constitutional amendment regarding the inclusion of the May 18 spirit in the preamble of the Constitution and issues related to the National Election Commission."

Furthermore, regarding the 'inclusive personnel' policy of the Lee Jae-myung administration [sic], he emphasized the need for stricter vetting, stating, "The direction of utilizing a wider range of people itself cannot be abandoned."

(Photo: Yonhap News)