Jeong Cheong-rae Refutes Criticism of 'Self-Serving Politics': "Now I Can Speak Out"

Refuting Criticism by Citing Personnel Decisions During Tenure as Democratic Party Leader
"If I Had Appointed My Own People, Would the Media Have Stayed Silent?"

Jeong Cheong-rae, former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, on July 7 rebutted criticisms of “self-serving politics” raised by rival candidates and others. He emphasized that he has always advocated for a unified stance among the party, the government, and the presidential office.

On July 7, through his social media account, Jeong stated, “People say I engaged in self-serving politics, but let’s examine that.” He evaluated his actions during his tenure as party leader based on the criterion of “Did personal interests ever exceed the boundaries of public interests?”

Regarding party positions, he said, “The key posts in the party are Secretary General, Policy Committee Chair, and Strategy and Planning Committee Chair. Although those assigned to these important roles did not support me during the party convention, I appointed the right people to the right positions based on their abilities.” He added, “If I had filled these posts with my own people, would the media have stayed silent?”

Jeong Cheong-rae, former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea

He also mentioned that he refrained from media interviews and similar activities during his tenure as party leader, stating, “I believed this was the time for President Lee Jaemyung, not for myself.” He continued, “This is not the behavior of someone who is engaging in self-serving politics.”

Regarding nominations for local elections, he said, “Through primaries, sometimes people close to me were nominated, and sometimes those distant from me were nominated. All of this was the result of party members’ choices.” He added, “Even if there may have been some shortcomings in managing the process, I never tried to plant my own people. If someone were truly engaging in self-serving politics, they would have installed their own people, but I did not.”

On the introduction of the “one person, one vote” system, he said, “This is a matter of public value, not personal interest.” He rebutted, “If someone claims that this was for self-serving politics, they should reflect deeply on public-mindedness and the spirit of democracy.”

Regarding discussions about a merger with the Jookook Innovation Party, he said, “If there had been a merger with the Innovation Party, the results of the recent local elections and the parliamentary by-elections would have been different.” He continued, “While I am willing to accept criticism that the process of pursuing the merger was not sophisticated, I cannot agree with the argument that the merger itself was wrong or that it was part of self-serving politics.”

Jeong also addressed claims of discord between the party and the presidential office, stating, “The party and government should each fulfill their respective roles both independently and together, and the sum of their efforts should lead to the success of the Lee Jaemyung administration, victory in general and presidential elections, and the creation of a renewed government.” He added, “If, in this journey, anyone had acted out of line or pursued personal gain, they would rightly be criticized for self-serving politics. If I had engaged in self-serving politics, I would have responded to every unfair and unjust attack, but instead, I quietly endured and focused on my work.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.