[Anchor]

The war of nerves among Democratic Party leadership contenders is intensifying. Former Representative Jung Chung-rae, targeting former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, who had mentioned the "evils of self-serving politics," criticized him by stating, "The incumbent Prime Minister's remarks about having a 'romance for party leadership' are the very definition of self-serving politics." In response, former Prime Minister Kim retorted that party members would be the ones to judge what truly constitutes the evils of self-serving politics.

Reporter Park Jae-yeon has the story.

[Reporter]

Former Representative Jung Chung-rae, who is set to announce his bid for the Democratic Party leadership election on August 17, posted on social media today (July 7), saying, "Now I can speak."

Targeting former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, he directly criticized him, stating, "It is a prime example of self-serving politics for a Prime Minister, who should be solely focused on state affairs, to cause unnecessary trouble by making remarks about a 'romance for party leadership' at an inappropriate time and place."

He was referring to remarks made by former Prime Minister Kim during a YouTube broadcast while he was in office this past January.

This comes after former Prime Minister Kim officially announced his bid for the party leadership yesterday, where he directly attacked former Representative Jung by saying, "Over the past year, the evils of self-serving politics have thrown the party into confusion."

[Jung Chung-rae/Former Representative of the Democratic Party: I believe the Prime Minister should focus only on state affairs and should not make remarks that could be misunderstood regarding party matters.]

Former Prime Minister Kim countered by pointing out that during former Representative Jung's tenure, there was a lack of discussion and coordination in the process of debating major internal party issues, such as prosecution reform and candidate nominations.

[Kim Min-seok/Former Prime Minister: Now is the time to debate and for party members to evaluate what truly caused the difficulties for our party over the past year due to the evils of self-serving politics....]

Pro-Jung factions have questioned former Prime Minister Kim, asking, "Why were you unable to participate in the National Assembly's vote to lift martial law in December 2024?" Meanwhile, pro-Myung factions have attacked former Representative Jung, claiming he "amplified internal party conflict and caused the leadership's capabilities to be wasted on internal disputes," leading to a proxy war.

As the heated war of words draws concerns from within the Democratic Party, pro-Myung lawmaker Song Young-gil and pro-Moon lawmaker Ko Min-jung are also scheduled to announce their bids for the party leadership tomorrow.

(Video coverage: Oh Young-chun, Shin Dong-hwan, Kim Yong-woo | Video editing: Yoo Mi-ra | Design: Jang Chae-woo, Jang Sung-bum, Hwang Se-yeon)