Jung Chungrae Launches Full-On 'Betrayal' Offensive Against Kim Minseok: "You Can't Run Away for 18 Years and Demand the Deed"

Jung: "There Is No Limit to Betrayal"

Jung Chung-rae, a candidate seeking re-election as president of the Democratic Party, sharply criticized his rival Kim Min-seok by saying, "A person who ran away from home for 18 years has come back and is now demanding the deed to the house."

Jung Chung-rae and Kim Min-seok, candidates for party president, are smiling while looking in different directions during the joint speech event of the Democratic Party's party president and supreme council member regional primaries held at BEXCO in Busan on the 2nd. Photo by Yonhap News

On the 3rd, during a talk concert with party members held at the Gangneung Culture Center in Gangwon Province, Jung said, "There is no law that says someone who betrays once will never betray again," and added, "There is no total limit to betrayal."

He continued, "Just because something happened back in 2002 doesn't mean we can't remember it," and pointed out, "When then-President Roh Moo-hyun's approval ratings fell, some people tried to shake things up, and in the end, someone like Kim Min-seok flew over to support Chung Mong-joon."

He also said, "While we were desperately working for Roh Moo-hyun's election victory, what was Kim Min-seok doing and where was he?" adding, "That was the first betrayal."

Jung went on to mention Kim's comments after the 2022 local elections. He said, "After the local elections ended, Kim Min-seok claimed that the defeat was Lee Jae-myung's responsibility. Now, he is attacking me, Jung Chung-rae, in the same way. I believe this is the second betrayal against the party members and the party itself."

Jung also responded to criticism from Kim's camp that accused him of playing "self-serving politics." He said, "I've never seen a prime minister go around so many places under the pretext of promoting state affairs. Was that really to promote the government, or was it to promote Kim Min-seok?"

He continued, "If you are the prime minister, you should focus on your prime ministerial duties. Why claim that being party president is your dream and create all this commotion? Isn't that self-serving politics?"

Jung announced his intention to respond firmly to suspicion raised recently regarding the alleged involvement of the Shincheonji sect in the party convention. He said, "If I become party president, I will immediately order an ethical inspection of Kim Min-seok's conduct. If the allegations are found to be baseless, I will refer the matter to the Ethics Tribunal and proceed with disciplinary action."

Jung appealed for support by saying, "If it is confirmed that I win overwhelmingly in Gangwon Province, a trend will be set. No matter how organized an election campaign is, mobilizing the media and lawmakers, in the end, I am confident that party members will put me in the party president's seat."

On the same day, Jung also criticized some fellow party lawmakers via social media for putting up banners containing Kim Min-seok's campaign slogans within his own district.

In a post entitled "Members of the National Assembly, Let's Not Go This Far," Jung pointed out, "Even though there are official party convention banners, some lawmakers are blatantly putting up banners with specific candidates' slogans. Isn’t this too much?" He added, "I've overlooked many things, but this issue seems rather excessive. I hope the party election commission will take action."

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