Kim Minseok and Jeong Cheongrae Continue Daily Tensions Over 'Self-Serving Politics'

Jeong Cheongrae: "Prime Minister Kim's 'party leader dream' remark caused unnecessary turmoil"

Jeong rebuts Kim's criticism of 'self-serving politics' from the previous day

Kim Minseok, former Prime Minister and Democratic Party leadership candidate for the 8·17 National Party Convention, and Jeong Cheongrae, former party leader, have continued their heated exchange, each accusing the other of engaging in "self-serving politics."

On July 7, Jeong Cheongrae posted on his social media, "Now I can speak – Regarding the so-called criticism of the 'detrimental effects of self-serving politics.'"

(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporters Jae-man Bae and Jinwook Lee = Kim Minseok, former Prime Minister and contender for the leadership of the Democratic Party, and Jeong Cheongrae, former leader. Former Prime Minister Kim Minseok is saluting the national flag at the 'Discussion on 3 Major Mega Projects and Local-Led Growth' hosted at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on July 7. Former leader Jeong Cheongrae is attending the inauguration ceremony of Mayor Yudonggyun held at Mapo District Office in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on July 7, saluting the national flag. 2026.7.7

In his post, he targeted former Prime Minister Kim, saying, "A sitting Prime Minister, who should have been devoted solely to state affairs, caused an unnecessary stir with his 'party leader dream' remark, which was entirely inappropriate for the time, place, and occasion (TPO). I see this as a prime example of self-serving politics." During a New Year’s press conference in February, while serving as Prime Minister, Kim Minseok made comments indicating that becoming party leader was his aspiration.

Jeong Cheongrae's remarks were a rebuttal to Kim Minseok’s declaration of candidacy the previous day, in which Kim criticized Jeong’s leadership, stating, "Over the past year, the Democratic Party failed to translate public support for the President and the government into party support and election outcomes. The detrimental effects of self-serving politics have thrown the party and party-government cooperation into confusion."

Furthermore, Jeong Cheongrae countered the accusations of self-serving politics by listing several points: ▲implementing a policy of fair appointments for party positions after becoming party leader ▲not conducting any exclusive interviews with print media during his term ▲not installing his own people during local elections ▲relinquishing party leader power through a one-person, one-vote system ▲and pursuing a merger with the Cho Kuk Innovation Party. He argued that these were evidence that he did not engage in self-serving politics.

He added, "In conclusion, some claim that Jeong Cheongrae engaged in self-serving politics and was out of sync with the Blue House, but I do not see it that way. I always advocated for the party, government, and Blue House to function as one team with one voice, and I practiced that in reality."

Their war of words continued throughout the day. After attending the "Mega Projects and Local-Led Growth Forum" at the National Assembly, Kim Minseok spoke to reporters regarding Jeong Cheongrae’s social media post, saying, "My raising of this issue has, through Jeong’s response, become a key topic for the party convention. It is now time for party members to judge what constitutes a self-serving political frame." He implied that the party convention should scrutinize issues such as the merger, prosecution reform, and nomination process promoted by Jeong Cheongrae.

In response, Jeong Cheongrae, speaking to reporters after attending the inauguration ceremony of Mayor Yoo Donggyun at the Mapo District Office in Seoul, said, "Using self-serving politics as a weapon to attack your opponent cannot be effective; it will only boomerang back to you. That is not proper." Nevertheless, he maintained his stance that Kim Minseok's "party leader dream" remark was "highly inappropriate."

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