Kim Min-seok: 'Why would I quit as PM and run if not for the Lee-Jung rivalry?'

Kim Min-seok, a candidate in the Democratic Party of Korea's Aug. 17 leadership election, said Thursday that the so-called "Lee-Jung showdown" was precisely why he entered the race.

"If there were no Lee-Jung conflict, why on earth would I quit as prime minister and run?" Kim said during an appearance on the YouTube program "Kim Eou-joon's Humility Is Hard News Factory." He added that if party leadership were to undermine the president and no one could resolve it, a binary choice between pro-Lee and anti-Lee factions would become unavoidable.

Kim said he expected the outcome to be decided in the Honam region and did not expect it to be overturned in the greater Seoul area. He identified claims of Shincheonji involvement in the party race as "the one thing I can't stop worrying about until the very end," calling it an unpredictable wild card. Referring to the 2022 presidential primary, he said there had been talk at the time questioning whether Shincheonji was involved, and that President Lee Jae Myung, then a candidate, had responded to such talk by saying the group was "an organization capable of doing something that big."

On criticism that he had raised the Shincheonji involvement claims without basis, Kim said a joint investigation team had already been looking into the matter and that Supreme Council candidate Rep. Park Seon-won had also raised the issue. "I'm someone who even anticipated the martial law — do you think I would have said something like that with absolutely nothing to go on?" he said, adding that he believed sufficient grounds had already been laid out.

Asked whether his earlier claim of a three-way secret alliance among anti-Lee Jae Myung forces, divisive elements and Shincheonji was aimed at fellow candidate Jung Chung-rae, Kim acknowledged that "some of the wording could be misread if one wanted to misread it." He nonetheless said Jung had "clearly provided grounds to be criticized for anti-Lee and divisive conduct."

On the question of a merger with the Rebuilding Korea Party, Kim said the party would likely find him "a demanding counterpart" but that "the process will be thorough and the outcome will be beautiful." He added that he was probably the person who had most often urged former party leader Cho Kuk to join the Democratic Party and engage in politics there.

He went on to say, however, that his overtures to Cho had been driven by personal affection, and that the Rebuilding Korea Party had its own platform and convictions, making it difficult to judge the matter at this point. "Ultimately, whether it is a merger or an alliance, whether candidates compete under different party banners in certain regions or compete for nominations within the party — it all comes down to competitiveness," he added.