Song Young-gil Declares Party Leadership Bid in Honam Base

Rep. Song Young-gil, a contender for the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea, officially declared his candidacy on the 9th in the South Jeolla-Gwangju Integrated Metropolitan City, saying, "I will unite a shaken Democratic Party once again and build a genuine ruling party that speaks through performance and results." He added, "I will lead the success of the Lee Jae-myung government, victory in the general election, and the retention of power."

This was his second move following a candidacy declaration held the previous day at the party's central headquarters in Seoul.

In his declaration statement, Song said, "Song Young-gil, who was born of Honam, chosen by President Kim Dae-jung, and gave everything for President Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party, is running in the Democratic Party leadership election."

Ahead of his declaration, he paid tribute at the May 18th National Cemetery, steeling his resolve.

Song diagnosed the results of the recent June 3rd local elections as "a defeat that failed to achieve a landslide." This is interpreted as targeting former leader Jung Chung-rae's bid for a second term. He added, "I have an urgent sense that leaving coach Hong Myung-bo in place is about to lead us to another World Cup defeat," and said, "If the Jung Chung-rae style of thinking becomes the mainstream of the Democratic Party again, we could receive a red card in the general election."

He also announced "four promises" for Honam development.

First, he said he would enhance fairness by having candidate primaries for public office in the Honam region managed by an external body rather than the party. He also pledged to hold regular party member town hall meetings to reflect the voices of diverse members—including youth, women, the self-employed, workers, farmers and fishermen—in the party platform.

He also outlined a plan to strengthen party-level support for the development of the South Jeolla-Gwangju Integrated Metropolitan City and to personally ensure that 20 trillion won in state funds is properly used. In addition, he stressed that he would actively support investment in the semiconductor and AI industries to develop Honam into a world-class future-industry hub.

Above all, dismissing claims that North Jeolla is being marginalized, he presented a macro vision called the "Southwestern Future Industry Belt." Defining South Jeolla-Gwangju and North Jeolla as being in an interdependent relationship, his plan is to develop North Jeolla into a mecca for robotics clusters, agricultural tech ventures and the carbon industry, thereby completing a vast youth-jobs ecosystem encompassing the entire southwestern region.

In particular, he emphasized his experience leading the Democratic Party after its defeat in the April 7th, 2021 by-elections, highlighting his crisis-management capabilities. "I have experience rebuilding a shaken party. The Honam DNA that turns crisis into opportunity is deeply imprinted on Song Young-gil," he said. "I will build a firm, genuine ruling party and lead the success of the Lee Jae-myung government, victory in the general election, and the retention of power."

Sentiment toward Song among Honam party members is also emerging as the eye of the storm.

As the relay of moves "urging Song Young-gil to run" spread from Sinan, the hometown of former President Kim Dae-jung (DJ), to Goheung, Song's own hometown, some assess that the central axis of Honam politics is facing a new change.

In this process, arguments for a generational change in Honam's leading figures are surfacing, and the eyes of Honam's political circles are focused on Song's moves.

Party members in South Jeolla-Gwangju are raising expectations for him as a new hope for Honam after DJ, with his "global diplomatic capabilities" highlighted as a new image. His language skills—fluency in five languages including Korean, English, Chinese, Russian and Japanese—and his long experience as chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee are also being re-examined.

Ahead of this national convention, voices are also being heard in Honam political circles about a strategic alliance between Rep. Song Young-gil and former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok. Calls are heard not infrequently for the two—who have shared a long political trajectory since their days in the student movement of the 1980s—to join hands and lead Honam's values and centrality at the forefront during the convention phase.

Meanwhile, Rep. Park Sun-won, a "national defense and security expert" running for a supreme council seat in the Democratic Party, held a press conference at the briefing room of the South Jeolla-Gwangju Integrated Metropolitan City Council that day. Regarding his convention strategy, he said, "If I were to form an alliance, I would ally with candidate Kim Min-seok, who has overseen state affairs alongside the president, and candidate Song Young-gil, a six-term lawmaker who knows Honam politics better than anyone." This is seen as reflecting his expectation to join hands with Reps. Kim Min-seok and Song Young-gil—rather than former leader Jung Chung-rae—to jointly lead a Democratic Party in crisis.