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"Coordinated with the President?" vs. "Leverage Causing Tears"

Park Jae-yeon

Published : Aug 6, 2026 7:37 AM

Video

Candidates for the leadership of the Democratic Party held their second TV debate. As Rep. Chung Cheong-rae and Rep. Kim Min-seok are locked in a tight race, Rep. Song Young-gil, the third-place contender who could tip the scales due to the ranked-choice voting system, sharply criticized Rep. Chung.

Reporter Park Jae-yeon has the story.

During the second TV debate among candidates running for the leadership in the Democratic Party's August 17 national convention,

Rep. Kim Min-seok and Rep. Chung Cheong-rae clashed over allegations of Shincheonji's involvement, with Kim defending it as a legitimate issue to raise and Chung demanding evidence.

[Kim Min-seok / Democratic Party Leadership Candidate: Is raising issues about Shincheonji such a grave sin? Should Shincheonji's intervention in the primary be protected?]

[Chung Cheong-rae / Democratic Party Leadership Candidate: The claim regarding Shincheonji is the most malicious argument dragging the convention into the mud. You should apologize cleanly….]

Rep. Kim claimed it was false that Rep. Chung had coordinated with the presidential office to evaluate the previous June 3 local elections as a "victory."

[Kim Min-seok / Democratic Party Leadership Candidate: Wasn't there a time when victory was not defined through party-government-presidential coordination? Do you think you can say anything just because the President isn't here?]

Rep. Chung fired back by arguing that Rep. Kim, during his tenure as Prime Minister, bears responsibility for failing to carefully review the introduction of "single-stock leverage ETFs."

[Chung Cheong-rae / Democratic Party Leadership Candidate: Many people are actually shedding tears of blood because of the single-stock leverage ETFs that were handled carelessly during the tenure of Prime Minister Kim Min-seok.]

Rep. Song Young-gil sharply targeted Rep. Chung, stating that he should draw a line against writer Yu Si-min's critical remarks regarding President Lee.

[Song Young-gil / Democratic Party Leadership Candidate: When figures like writer Yu Si-min attack the President like that, you should push back against it. Tell him not to do it, Yu Si-min.]

[Chung Cheong-rae / Democratic Party Leadership Candidate: I am stating that I will maintain my loyalty to President Lee Jae-myung until the very end.]

The Democratic Party will hold its final TV debate for the leadership candidates on the 12th before selecting the final winner on the 17th.

(Camera: Oh Young-chun, Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing: Won Hyung-hee)

※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.