Jung Chung-rae and Kim Min-seok Spar over Party Sentiment and Public Opinion in the Democratic Party Leadership Primary

As Rep. Jung Chungrae once again highlighted a framework that distinguishes between the sentiment of party members and the sentiment of lawmakers in the Democratic Party leadership race, Rep. Kim Minseok’s side pushed back, calling it “divideandrule politics.” On the 26th, Rep. Jung emphasized the power of rightsbearing party members, saying on social media (SNS), “The will of the party members overcomes doubt.” He also put party members’ sentiment front and center at a party members’ meeting on the 28th. This is interpreted as an attempt to reuse the strategy that led to victory at last year’s party convention. By contrast, Rep. Park Beomgye, who is helping Rep. Kim, said, “Do not separate the sentiment of party members from doubt,” adding that party member sovereignty should be a principle of unity, not a tool for division. Rep. Kim also described himself as “a tool of the party members” at a lecture for rightsbearing party members, signaling his position of erasing the adversarial framework. Within the party, there is analysis that Rep. Jung’s strategy could be advantageous in rallying support from party members, while there is also assessment that with the introduction of the onepersononevote system, the influence of lawmakers and local committee chairs has been greatly weakened compared with before.