As the Democratic Party's Aug. 17 national convention enters its main contest this week, competition among leadership candidates to secure party sentiment is heating up. On the 26th, candidates Kim Min-seok and Chung Chung-rae each toured provincial regions moving as teams with supreme council candidates. They engaged in a war of nerves while checking the election of rival faction supreme council candidates, and continued to spar over a "Shincheonji intervention" theory.
At an invited lecture held at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) in Gwangju that day, Kim said, "Do you think the Democratic Party is a party that would make three anti-Myung (anti-Lee Jae-myung), pro-Chung (pro-Chung Chung-rae) candidates supreme council members?" He added, "A 4 (pro-Myung) to 1 (pro-Chung) landscape is forming. The point to watch is whether, in the end, all the pro-Chung candidates will be defeated to make it 5 to 0."
The party's supreme council election, in which a final five members are elected, narrowed the field to five pro-Myung and three pro-Chung candidates through a preliminary contest (cutoff) on the 23rd of this month. The pro-Chung camp, all three of whose contenders survived, is privately aiming for a sweep, and Kim moved to check this. Within the party, there is an interpretation that the pro-Myung camp, whose votes are split among five, is at a disadvantage in the supreme council election compared to the pro-Chung camp with three contenders. Kim's lecture that day was attended by pro-Myung supreme council candidates Kim Yong, Seo Mi-hwa, Park Sun-won and Lim Mi-ae (in ballot order), along with lawmakers Kim Moon-soo, Park Gyun-taek, Lee Yong-woo, Jung Jin-wook and Cho Kye-won.
Chung, at a party members' meeting held at the Ulsan city chapter, repeatedly mentioned the "Shincheonji membership allegations" raised by Kim, urging, "The party responsible for throwing the party into chaos should apologize to party members, and I hope the party takes stern measures." Three pro-Chung supreme council candidates also attended Chung's meeting side by side. Chung lent support, saying, "I have already reached my (donation) limit. There is a way to put (donations) into candidates Choi Min-hee, Lee Sung-yoon and Han Min-soo."
The pro-Chung candidates simultaneously posted on Facebook, "We ask the Kim camp: when will you present the basis for the Shincheonji claim?" and, "We ask that the central party immediately investigate the facts, and also sternly judge the matter of raising groundless allegations." Judging that the Shincheonji allegations raised by Kim have instead become a losing factor for the Kim camp, they appear to be taking a more aggressive stance in their "attacks."
Song Young-gil, who has emphasized courting the younger generation, had a luncheon with people in their 20s and 30s in Jinan County, North Jeolla Province. Song also took aim at Chung, saying, "It has been a little over a year since the launch of the Lee Jae-myung government, and Chung Chung-rae ran the party. How do you think the party-presidential office relationship was?"
On his Facebook, Song stressed, "Reform that shakes the president and only shouts slogans may earn applause for certain politicians, but it ends in general election defeat and a change of government." He added, "The national convention is an election to choose a leader who will stand by the president and open the path to successful reform."
