"Party Leadership Is Short": Direct Confrontation Over Party Control; "Targeting and Text Bombing"

[Anchor]

Within the Democratic Party, clashes between factions are intensifying over the next party leadership. Following recent remarks by Representative Jung Chung-rae that "regimes are short," the pro-Lee Jae-myung faction hit back directly, stating that "party leadership is short." A heated debate also ensued over the "one-member, one-vote" system for all party members, which Representative Jung had pushed for.

Reporter Park Jae-yeon has the story.

[Reporter]

Democratic Party Representative Jung Chung-rae presided over the party's Supreme Council meeting in Gwangju today (June 12).

Appealing to the party sentiment in the Honam region, considered the biggest battleground for the party leadership race, he stated:

[Jung Chung-rae/Democratic Party Representative: Without Honam, could democracy in the Republic of Korea have grown this much?]

However, pro-Lee Jae-myung Supreme Council members confronted Representative Jung to his face, demanding that he take responsibility for the local election results and give up his bid for a consecutive term.

[Hwang Myung-sun/Democratic Party Supreme Council Member: Many people are calling this an impudent leadership. I urge you to take a responsible stance.]

They also retorted to Representative Jung's remarks from two days ago, "The people are eternal, and regimes are short," by saying:

[Kang Deuk-gu/Democratic Party Supreme Council Member: The people and party members are eternal, but party leadership is short.]

In response, the pro-Jung faction sharpened its attacks on Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, who is considered a likely contender against Representative Jung for party leadership.

[Moon Jeong-bok/Democratic Party Supreme Council Member: It is not an urgent task for the person acting on behalf of the state during the President's overseas trip to give congratulatory speeches and take photos at a workshop for newly elected officials for two consecutive days.]

The "one-member, one-vote" system, which equalized the voting weight of delegates and party members, is considered Representative Jung's signature policy. When Representatives Jeon Hyun-hee and Kim Nam-hee publicly pointed out the need for supplementary measures to reflect the sentiments of young people and moderates, Representative Jung shared a media report on social media that explicitly named the two lawmakers and retorted that "the one-member, one-vote system is democracy itself."

The two lawmakers pushed back, stating, "We received abusive language and text bombs all night due to this public 'targeting'," and demanded an apology and explanation.

Regarding Representative Jung's public declaration on social media today that he would "completely abolish the prosecution's supplementary investigation rights," Minister of Justice Jung Sung-ho stated during a press conference, "If the prosecution does not touch investigations at all, is there an alternative to protect victims?" and clearly expressed his opposition to the abolition, adding, "We cannot leave all investigations to the police."

Reported by Kim Yong-woo | Video by Lee Seung-jin | Graphics by Lee Yeon-jun and Kim Ye-ji
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.