Park Ji-won rebukes Jung Chung-rae: 'Graceful concession is the greater democracy'

Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Park Ji-won criticized former party leader Jung Chung-rae on Tuesday after Jung, who failed to win re-election as party leader, said in a post-defeat livestream that "Kim Min-seok won in numbers, but lost on many of his arguments." Park said such remarks were "not advisable for Jung's own political future."

Speaking on MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus" on Tuesday, Park said Jung had claimed to have "won among the public in polling," but noted that he had faced similar situations himself. "When I was National Assembly speaker, I won 70 to 80 percent in polls and still lost to people who got 3 or 5 percent," Park said. "But accepting defeat gracefully is the greater democracy. Did Jung really need to say that? It would be better not to."

After losing to Kim Min-seok on Monday, Jung held a YouTube livestream in which he made several remarks directed at his supporters: that he had "lost in numbers, but not in passion or values"; that "Kim Min-seok won, but lost on many of his arguments"; that "organization cannot beat momentum, but this time the organization was too strong"; and that he estimated he had led Kim by about 5 percentage points in polling, at roughly 47 percent to 42 percent.

On the fact that three of the five elected supreme council members — Choi Min-hee, Lee Sung-yoon and Han Min-su — are aligned with Jung, Park said the outcome reflected a deliberate balance. "Jung ran too independently during his first term and occasionally clashed with President Lee Jae Myung, so the public decided the party leader should not hold too much power and chose Kim Min-seok — but the leadership ended up split three pro-Jung to two pro-Lee, a golden division," Park said. "Leader Kim Min-seok must govern well by reading the will of the public and party members."

Park then said, "Unity, harmony and people's livelihoods are the path forward — that is how President Lee succeeds, the Democratic Party succeeds, wins the general election and achieves a second term in power. That is why I believe even the pro-Jung faction will move as one team."

On Kim's pledge during the primary to seek a confidence vote after next April's by-elections, Park said the stakes would be high. "If Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon steps down as a result of his trial, there will need to be a Seoul mayoral by-election and a Gangneung parliamentary by-election next April. Without resolving issues like real estate, winning in Seoul will be extremely difficult," he said. "If the Seoul mayoral race is lost next year, someone will have to take responsibility."

On real estate policy, Park said government measures alone would not be enough. "No political power can beat public sentiment, and no economy can beat the market," he said. "If leader Kim gathers a few frontline real estate agents, construction firms and developers for a discussion, good results will follow."

Park, who served as director of the National Intelligence Service under the Moon Jae-in administration, was asked about the credibility of Donald Trump's claim that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had responded positively to a request for talks. "The CIA must have been quite active behind the scenes," Park said.

Park said Kim Jong-un's top priority, in keeping with the legacy passed down from his predecessors, was improving relations with the United States — securing regime guarantees and sanctions relief to pursue development. He added that with Trump "cornered" by issues including Iran, he believed Kim would "take Trump's hand once more" around the US midterm elections, and that a North Korea-US summit could rapidly materialize just before those midterms.

Asked whether the South Korean government was aware of such developments, Park said, "Since South Korea and the United States share intelligence thoroughly, I would assume some degree of information sharing with the CIA has taken place."