Jung Chung-rae urges voters to 'send prison trio into history,' punish PPP ahead of June 3 local elections

Jung Chung-rae, the Democratic Party of Korea's overall standing election campaign committee chairman, called on voters Tuesday to "send the prison trio into the dustbin of history" and punish the People Power Party, which he described as a party of "corruption, national division and insurrection," on the eve of the local elections.

Speaking at a final press conference at the National Assembly ahead of election day, Jung said South Korea stands at a critical crossroads: "whether to fully break from the insurrection of the Dec. 3 emergency martial law and move toward a vibrant future with the Lee Jae Myung administration, or be dragged back by the specter of insurrection once more."

He pointed to the PPP's decision to field 11 incumbent regional government heads — all nominated under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration — as candidates again, and to former presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak hitting the campaign trail in support. "The war against insurrection and the war against corruption are still ongoing," he said.

Jung was particularly critical of Yoon Suk Yeol, Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye for taking active roles in the campaign. "The fact that they have stepped to the forefront of electioneering is itself a regression to the past, an act of destroying democracy and a show of contempt for the people," he said.

"If we do not fully extinguish the embers of insurrection now, if we do not cut out the roots of corruption now, we cannot know when the flames of insurrection and corruption will engulf people's lives again," Jung said. "We must never let our guard down."

On the record-high early voting turnout of 23.51 percent for this round of local elections, Jung said it reflected "the people's earnest desire to fully sweep away the insurrectionist forces still stirring and restore South Korea to normalcy."

Jung also noted that the local elections are the first nationwide vote since the Lee Jae Myung administration took office, and urged voters to support the Democratic Party to give the government the political momentum it needs to govern.

Citing the Kospi's breakthrough above the 8,000 mark, consumer voucher programs and cost-of-living relief payments for households hit by high fuel prices as achievements of the Lee administration, Jung said voting for the Democratic Party — listed as candidate No. 1 on the ballot — was "the way to give the Lee Jae Myung administration greater strength." He added that electing Democratic Party candidates as regional and local government heads would help secure more government budget allocations and resolve local issues more easily.