Kim vows to be best support for president; Jung pledges to protect him 'to the end'

Candidates vying for the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea spent Saturday crisscrossing the country to meet party members, each competing to show the closest alignment with President Lee Jae Myung.

Former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok worked through a Greater Seoul schedule, pressing his case as the candidate best positioned to support the Lee administration.

At a regional committee meeting in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Kim told party members he had worked in step with President Lee for the past three years and had been involved in designing state policy. "Given that the president and I share a similar philosophical outlook, wouldn't I be the one best able to support him right now?" he said.

He also said the June 3 local elections were a win but not a fully satisfying one, noting that some polls showed the Democratic Party trailing the People Power Party in approval ratings. "We cannot afford to fall behind in the polls while criticizing the insurrection forces," he said.

At a youth forum held later in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Kim said youth issues could not be resolved through youth or university student committees alone. "Assembly member groups need to provide backing as well," he said.

Kim also posted on X, formerly Twitter, expressing support for introducing a preferential voting system in the party leadership primary. He said he respected the party convention preparatory committee's position and resolve on adopting the preferential voting system and a youth supreme council member post, calling both consistent with the party constitution and precedent. "The supreme council should move to handle this promptly," he said.

Former party leader Jung Chung-rae focused again Saturday on an aggressive social media campaign.

In a Facebook post, Jung declared himself the person who would protect President Lee "to the end," adding: "Don't worry." He also said he was the right candidate to unite the party's four presidential legacies — Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, Moon Jae-in and Lee Jae Myung — and to build a broader progressive alliance beyond the party.

"A progressive coalition to win the general election and return to power — Jung Chung-rae is the one you can trust," he added.

In a separate post, Jung wrote that sovereignty in South Korea belongs to the people and all power flows from them, drawing a parallel to the party: "Power within the Democratic Party belongs to its members, and all party authority flows from them."

"I look only to the will of the people and the will of party members," he said, appealing to members to support him with their individual votes.

Jung also posted a photo of himself visiting the grave of former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan in Sejong, saying the one-member, one-vote system he completed during his tenure as party leader was "a meaningful achievement that fulfilled the prime minister's legacy."

Jung, who has been keeping a low profile with a private schedule, said through Facebook that he held a youth forum in North Chungcheong Province on Saturday.

Lawmaker Song Young-gil, who announced his bid for the party leadership in Gwangju on Thursday, was in his third consecutive day of campaigning in the Honam region.

Song met with the regional traditional market association in Iksan and greeted residents at a local market.

In the afternoon, he held a town hall meeting for party rights members at Wonkwang University, saying President Lee's mega-project for Gwangju and South Jeolla Province should be linked with North Jeolla Province to expand the reach of the entire southwestern region.

"I am the only party leadership candidate who has served as a regional government head," Song said. "Proven administrative capacity is the ruling party leader's core weapon for ensuring that the four years of the Lee administration are not wasted — backed fully through legislation and budgets."

Lawmaker Ko Min-jung met with self-employed business owners, office workers, and youth and women party members in Chilgok, North Gyeongsang Province, on Saturday afternoon.