Jung Chung-rae fires back at Kim Min-seok: 'Party members hate blame-shifting and negativity'

Jung Chung-rae, the former Democratic Party of Korea leader widely expected to run for party chair at the Aug. 17 national convention, fired back Thursday at former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, who had indirectly criticized him over the party's sliding approval ratings, saying "the thing party members hate most is blaming others and going negative."

Jung made the remarks on Facebook, writing: "I will not go negative. I will not tear down or insult my opponent. I will, on occasion, exercise self-defense."

Earlier Thursday, Kim met with party members at the Suncheon-gap district committee in South Jeolla Province, where he said, "What good does it do to just call them 'insurrection forces' when we're trailing the People Power Party in approval ratings?" He added that he would be "not a party leader who merely criticizes the insurrection forces for being wrong, but one who defeats them."

Political observers interpreted Kim's remarks as a veiled criticism of Jung, suggesting that Jung's focus on confrontational opposition politics during his tenure as party leader had allowed the approval rating gap to narrow.