DP secretary-general says primary-focused candidate selection 'partially dysfunctional'

Cho Seung-rae, secretary-general of the Democratic Party of Korea, said Tuesday that the party's primary-focused candidate selection process for the June 3 local elections "worked well in most cases, but appears to have been partially dysfunctional."

Speaking on MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Morning Focus" that morning, Cho said primaries "can serve the useful function of separating the wheat from the chaff, but at times they can also produce the opposite effect."

He said there was "a sense of regret that a more thorough and measured vetting — of whether a given person has what it takes to serve as a regional government head or local lawmaker — should have been carried out." He added that future candidate recommendations "will need to go through a more deliberate process that takes this dimension into account."

Cho rebuffed South Jeolla Province Gov. Kim Yeong-rok, who had raised concerns about the management of the primary process, calling it "undemocratic and unfair." Cho said the questionnaires and other elements of the primaries "were not unique to South Jeolla Province and Gwangju — all 16 regional government head races were conducted under the same standards." He called it "a bit excessive" to single out South Jeolla and Gwangju as unfair, adding: "I can understand why you feel that way given your disappointment, but you need to speak with the facts straight."

On calls for Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rae to take responsibility for the overall election results, Cho said "opinion seems divided on whether this defeat was bad enough to warrant the party leader's resignation." He added that the upcoming party convention — which will elect a new party leader and leadership — would likely also serve as an occasion to assess the results of both the local elections and the National Assembly by-elections.