Park Ji-won: Jung Chung-rae 'cannot win' party leadership race, should face public judgment

By Joo So-hyun, The Herald Business

Park Ji-won, a five-term senior lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea, said Monday that party leader Jung Chung-rae — who has faced mounting calls to resign — should "take full responsibility, step down, and let the people and party members pass judgment" on him, calling that "the right attitude."

Speaking on SBS Radio that day, Park cited the views of civic groups in Gwangju he had met the previous day, saying that "artificially telling someone to run or blocking someone from running is wrong — that would direct arrows at the president."

Asked whether Jung should be allowed to seek reelection as party leader, Park said it was "his decision to make." Park had previously called on June 10 for Jung and the rest of the party leadership to resign en masse and pledge not to seek reelection.

When asked whether he had softened his position to allow Jung to run in the party leadership convention, Park said he had expected his advice to be heeded but that Jung had "pushed back and resisted." He added, however, that Jung would ultimately understand "the intent behind planting the paulownia tree" — a Korean idiom for a long-term plan — once he saw the polling numbers from the public and party members.

Pressed on whether he meant Jung could not win even if he ran, Park said, "You read my mind exactly. Either way, it is the people and the party members who decide everything. So let's keep a close eye on public polling going forward." He added that if approval ratings "tumbled," Jung's own decision would move in the direction Park had described.

Park doubled down on his argument that Jung bears responsibility for the declining approval ratings of both President Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party since the June 3 local elections. "Personally, I said I would not run if I were him — that he should not run," Park said, adding: "Who takes responsibility for this? The party leader must."

Park then added that questions remain over whether the preparatory committee for the party leadership convention would be formed under Jung's direction as he steps down, or whether it would be constituted on a neutral basis.