'Jang's current conduct is unusual and strange'
'Efforts to distance Oh Se-hoon from Jang helped win Seoul race'
Jang's fate likely to be decided after floor leader election Wednesday
People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jae-seop said Wednesday that the party must acknowledge its crushing defeat in the June 3 local elections and that responsibility for the result lies with party leader Jang Dong-hyeok.
Speaking on CBS Radio's "Park Sung-tae's News Show," Kim said he found it "deeply insulting" that Jang appeared to be claiming credit for the election results based on a handful of victories. "Pointing to partial wins and calling them his own electoral success — that was deeply insulting to me," he said.
Kim acknowledged that responsibility for the outcome was shared across the party, including by himself as a PPP Assembly member, but argued the weight of that responsibility rested squarely with the party leadership. "The reason party leadership has always made decisions about their future after an election defeat is precisely because they bear the greatest responsibility," he said. He added that Jang's current conduct was "unusual and strange."
He also took aim at Jang's call to examine "objective data." "He suddenly tells us to look at objective data — but we're all looking at it with our eyes wide open, so I'm not sure what exactly he wants us to see," Kim said. He noted that media outlets had described the districts Jang campaigned in as electoral graveyards, saying the data spoke for itself.
Kim, who served as campaign committee chairman for Seoul Mayor candidate Oh Se-hoon, said he had fought hard to keep Jang at arm's length from the campaign. "Near the end, there were voices within the Oh camp suggesting Jang should join the stump speeches to rally the base. I told them flat out: if there's ever a shot of Jang Dong-hyeok and candidate Oh Se-hoon on the same stage together, I will publicly quit as campaign chairman on the spot," he said. He added that it was "utterly hollow and embarrassing" for Jang to now claim the Seoul result as a credit to the party leadership.
On growing calls from inside and outside the party for Jang to step down, Kim said the turning point would likely come after Wednesday's floor leader election. "Discontent with Jang Dong-hyeok within the party is at a boiling point," he said, adding that Jang's future would "probably be decided in earnest" after the vote.
All three floor leader candidates — Kim Do-eup, Seong Il-jong and Jeong Jeom-sik — had reached a consensus the previous day that Jang should resign. Kim added that the question of Jang's tenure was "only a matter of time."
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