Kim Min-seok slams rivals over silence on anti-Lee faction; Jung vows to 'protect the president'

The three candidates who advanced to the main primary for the Democratic Party of Korea's Aug. 17 national convention — Kim Min-seok, Jung Chung-rae and Song Young-gil — fanned out across the country Sunday to court rank-and-file party members.

Speaking at an invited lecture at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Kim said he had repeatedly urged, while serving as prime minister, that the supplementary investigative powers be abolished by May, and questioned who was responsible for dragging the matter out. "If calling the president anti-reform isn't being anti-Lee, what is?" he said.

Kim also took aim at Jung over his "no comment" response to writer Yoo Si-min's criticism of President Lee. "What kind of protection of the president is it to say nothing — just 'no comment' — about the anti-Lee faction?" Kim said. "Do such people deserve to lead the party?"

Kim also went after the three Supreme Council member candidates — Choi Min-hee, Han Min-su and Lee Sung-yoon — who have formed "Team Jung Chung-rae." He said he is labeled an anti-Lee, pro-Jung candidate, and asked whether the Democratic Party was the kind of party that would seat three anti-Lee figures on its Supreme Council. "The question to watch is whether the lineup shapes up as four pro-Lee to one pro-Jung, and then all the pro-Jung candidates get swept out at the end, making it five to zero," he said.

Jung, speaking at a party member forum at the Ulsan chapter, said he was certain he would be the one to stand by President Lee to the end, as someone who had never betrayed or left the party. "I will protect the president and the Democratic Party — so please protect Jung Chung-rae," he told the audience.

He said that to win future general and presidential elections, those who voted for presidents Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, Moon Jae-in and Lee Jae Myung must first unite, and that the party must pursue integration and solidarity beyond its own ranks.

The three pro-Jung Supreme Council candidates also attended the forum. Jung told the gathering that his own fundraising cap had already been reached, and directed supporters toward donation options for candidates Choi Min-hee, Lee Sung-yoon and Han Min-su. Jung was set to greet party members in Daegu before moving on to Daejeon to court voters in the Chungcheong region.

Song joined young vendors for lunch at a youth market in Jinan, North Jeolla Province, listening to local concerns. He posed a question to those gathered: "It has been just over a year since the Lee Jae Myung government took office, and Jung Chung-rae has been running the party — how do you think the party-administration relationship has gone?"

When one attendee said outside criticism had felt somewhat excessive, Song replied that he found it hard to agree with the kind of criticism leveled by figures such as writer Yoo Si-min. Song also pledged to appoint two youth Supreme Council members by designation if elected party leader, saying he would work to widen avenues for young people to participate in the party. Now in his third consecutive day of campaigning in North Jeolla Province, Song was scheduled to visit local markets in the afternoon to appeal for support.