Democratic lawmaker Im Mi-ae enters party leadership race, vows to end 'divisive politics'

Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Im Mi-ae announced her candidacy for a supreme council seat at the party's Aug. 17 national convention, pledging to end what she called "self-serving and divisive politics." She also laid out ambitions to complete political reform — including the introduction of a multi-member district system — and to build the Democratic Party into a truly nationwide party.

Im made the announcement Thursday at a press conference at the National Assembly members' office building. "A 'self-serving politics' that lines people up cannot be the Democratic Party's leadership," she said. "What we urgently need is a leadership of dialogue and unity that can coordinate relations between the party, government and presidential office, and resolve social conflict."

Im characterized the June 3 local elections as a defeat. "If the party does not change, we cannot guarantee the success of the Lee Jae Myung government or the future of South Korea," she said. She called for a leadership that would "learn from, reflect on and take stock of the local election defeat — and build a Democratic Party that wins again."

Asked which party leader candidate best embodied a leadership of dialogue and unity, Im said former party leader Jung Chung-rae should step aside from the convention race. "If Jung has confirmed through the local election results that many party members and supporters have been going through a period of conflict and discord, then — even if he feels wronged — he should humbly accept public sentiment and not run in this convention," she said. "Party members will make the wisest judgment."

Pointing to her background as a former Uiseong-gun council member in North Gyeongsang Province, Im said she had built her political career by meeting and persuading people in that region who were not sympathetic to the Democratic Party. "What the Democratic Party needs now is not a leadership that only works within its own camp, but one that can hold dialogue with people outside it," she said.

She said the winner-takes-all dynamic and breakdown in communication she had witnessed in the Yeongnam region were "ultimately the same problems that have tripped up the Democratic Party in the greater Seoul area and Honam as well." "Only someone who has experienced these problems firsthand in hostile territory can speak most accurately to why this reform is so urgent," she added.

Im said the party must not forget "Kim Boo-kyum's tears and cries." "It was because of the countless party members, local council members and regional committee chairs who ran in hostile constituencies knowing full well what the outcome would be that the Democratic Party was able to keep alive its dream of becoming a nationwide party," she said.

Im outlined three priorities: overcoming internal party conflict, completing political reform, and building a capable ruling party with a nationwide presence. As part of political reform, she said she would establish a dedicated party body to pursue expansion of a multi-member district system, introduction of a runoff voting system, and the effective revival of local party chapters. She also pledged full support for a special committee on building a nationwide party and a special committee on Yeongnam development.

Im said the Democratic Party's push to become a nationwide party must be accompanied by an overhaul of the single-member district system. "The Democratic Party's approval rating in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province is already a stable 25 to 30 percent. And yet we have no choice but to give up every seat — that is the limitation of the single-member district system," she said. "The Democratic Party needs to take a far more active interest in electoral reform that reduces wasted votes and raises proportionality."

On the decision to give a 5 percent weighting to delegate and party member votes from strategic regions including Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province and South Gyeongsang Province at this convention, Im said it was "meaningless." "That is an area where we need to work harder to grow the party's base in those strategic regions," she said. "A form that distorts the decision-making of party members in other regions is not desirable, so it needs to be reconsidered."

Asked how she would win over voters in their 20s and 30s, Im said she had drawn a clear lesson from the recent Daegu mayoral election results. "I understood that there is very deep disappointment with politicians and the political world who show no interest in people's lives and the real problems facing the younger generation," she said. "At the same time, I confirmed that they are fully ready to be moved by and support sincere politics that takes an interest in them and tries to communicate — rather than abandoning or turning away from politics altogether."

On the failed introduction of a youth supreme council seat, Im said it was "very important to create a channel through which the younger generation can communicate directly within the party and make their agenda a priority." "It would have been best if a youth candidate had been elected at this convention, in a space open to all party members and the public, but it is very regrettable that party rules were not in place to allow it," she said.