Jung Chung-rae makes unannounced trip to Honam region day before stepping down as party leader

Democratic Party of Korea leader Jung Chung-rae made an unannounced visit to the Honam region Tuesday, a day before his scheduled resignation as party leader, attending a women's policy forum hosted by Min Hyeong-bae, the mayor-elect of the proposed South Jeolla-Gwangju integrated special city.

With speculation mounting that Jung may formally announce a bid to retain the party leadership after stepping down Wednesday, his visit to the South Jeolla-Gwangju area — home to roughly 310,000 party members, or about one-third of the Democratic Party's total membership — is being widely interpreted as a campaign-style move aimed at courting the party base in the region.

Jung arrived at the Kim Dae-jung Nobel Peace Prize Memorial Hall in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, at 2 p.m. Tuesday, where he greeted attendees at Min's "Dialogue with Special City Residents — Listening to Women" forum held in the first-floor lobby.

In his remarks, Jung said he had come "to hear what women's policies are needed for the South Jeolla-Gwangju integrated special city," adding that "we need to reflect on whether our society is properly recognizing the discrimination and hardships women face."

Responding to questions from attendees, he said "what the state ultimately must do is draw up and allocate budgets," and that "no matter how good a policy is, it cannot be implemented without funding — and that inevitably leads back to deliberations in the National Assembly."

He went on to say that Min "will be visiting the National Assembly to push for budget allocations and the passage of legislation," and pledged to "help other Assembly members recognize the importance of the issues you have raised."

Jung's day of visits — which also included stops at Gwangju Songjeong Market and the Hwasun-gun dolmen traditional market in South Jeolla Province, none of which were listed on the party's official schedule — prompted observers inside and outside the party to characterize the itinerary as in effect a pre-campaign effort to win over the Honam party base.

The interpretation has been reinforced by Min's own actions: the mayor-elect appeared on the YouTube channel "Kim Eojun's News Factory" the previous day and raised the possibility of Jung running in the next party leadership election, then effectively accompanied Jung at Tuesday's event — moves seen by some as a signal that Min intends to back Jung in the coming leadership race.

In that broadcast, Min said of Jung's prospects, "At this point, it seems he has no choice but to run," adding, "If he doesn't, won't it look like he's being pushed aside?"

Min also said that "on the surface, who receives the president's backing is not what matters," predicting that "the side that properly presents which path for the Democratic Party leads to the success of the Lee Jae Myung government will win."