[Current Affairs Show] Kim Minseok VS Jung Chungrae: Will There Be Unity After the Party Convention?

Jung Chungrae Frames Kim Minseok as a "Betrayer"

Kim Minseok Challenges Jung Chungrae's "Competence"

Poll Shows Kim Minseok Leading Jung Chungrae Beyond the Margin of Error

■ Broadcast: The Asia Business Daily’s ‘So Jongseop’s Current Affairs Show’ (Mon-Fri, 4–5 PM)

■ Host: So Jongseop, Politics Specialist ■ Producer: Ma Yena

■ Guest: Naju Seok, Chief of the National Assembly Team at The Asia Business Daily (August 11)

※ When citing this article, please make sure to credit 'So Jongseop’s Current Affairs Show.'

So Jongseop: Hello, everyone. This is So Jongseop’s Current Affairs Show. There is only one week left until the Democratic Party’s national convention. Candidates Kim Minseok, Song Younggil, and Jung Chungrae are fiercely battling it out. In particular, it’s shaping up to be a two-way match between Kim Minseok and Jung Chungrae. To discuss the overall dynamics of the Democratic Party convention, I am joined by Naju Seok, Chief of the National Assembly Team at The Asia Business Daily. The contest between these two candidates is intense.

Naju Seok: It seems like every possible move is being brought out in the public opinion battle. For instance, candidate Kim Minseok is emphasizing that he served as the first prime minister under the Lee Jae-myung administration and is highlighting his closeness to the president. Candidate Jung Chungrae, on the other hand, is bringing up Kim’s past decision to leave the Democratic Party, framing it as an act of betrayal.

Kim Minseok is focusing on his ability to manage state affairs, stressing that competence is crucial. In the debate yesterday, he continuously challenged Jung about the number of businesspeople he has met, the necessity of cooperating with U.S. forces for relocating the Gwangju military airfield, and questioned whether Jung has the capacity to handle such issues. Jung, meanwhile, is claiming that Kim is using the president’s name for his own gain, whereas Kim’s side counters that Jung is exploiting “prosecution and judicial reform” issues. Interestingly, both sides are accusing each other of conducting an organizational campaign during this election.

Candidates for the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea are taking a commemorative photo at the TV debate held at KBC in Seo-gu, Gwangju, Jeollanam-do, on the afternoon of the 10th. From left to right: Song Young-gil, Chung Cheong-rae, and Kim Min-seok. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

So Jongseop: Organizational campaign?

Naju Seok: Kim’s camp is arguing that Jung, during his earlier tenure as party leader, appointed numerous special advisors and took control of the organization, moving almost immediately after taking office to secure reelection—so the organization is actually on his side. Jung’s camp responds that it is Kim who is orchestrating an organizational campaign.

In some sense, all three politicians have ties to President Lee Jae-myung from long years of political collaboration, so each is trying to highlight his own strengths. However, from Jung’s perspective, suspicion around his relations with the government and the president has intensified. Jung argues that the core support base has drifted away, and claims that if he becomes party leader, the president’s approval ratings would rebound.

So Jongseop: There’s been a poll on support for the next party leader, and it shows that Kim Minseok is ahead of Jung Chungrae by more than the margin of error?

Naju Seok: Yes, that’s correct. With Kim taking a lead in last weekend’s primary, there has been speculation that momentum is building. This has been supported by a recent poll from Realmeter. On August 9–10, a poll was conducted among 2,003 adults nationwide, with 1,053 respondents identified as either Democratic Party supporters or unaffiliated voters, to gauge preferences for the next party leader. The results showed Kim Minseok with 46.8%, Jung Chungrae with 35.2%, and Song Younggil with 6.5%. The margin of error is ±3.0 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, with 11.5% saying they had no preferred candidate or were unsure. For further details, please refer to the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.

Of particular interest, in the Honam region, Kim received 57.7%, while Jung received 28.2%, demonstrating a more than two-to-one advantage. However, it should be noted that of the 1,053 sample respondents, only 167 were from Honam. While this may raise doubts about reliability, statistically it is outside the margin of error. In the TV debates, Kim Minseok definitely appears more relaxed, while Jung Chungrae seems a bit urgent and is playing catch-up. Since about one-third of party members are in Honam, Jung is trailing there but is reportedly aiming for a turnaround in the Seoul metropolitan area.

Naju Seok: The situation is somewhat different in the Seoul metropolitan area. It appears to be a tight race there.

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So Jongseop: Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae seems to have shown support for Jung Chungrae, raising questions within the Democratic Party about whether a head of a metropolitan government should be getting involved like this. Various opinions have surfaced internally regarding this issue.

Naju Seok: On issues like prosecution reform, Governor Choo and Jung have actually often worked together, and their perspectives on reform mostly coincide. Some say these discussions are emerging with future political alignments in mind.

So Jongseop: Do you think there’s a chance Kim Minseok could secure a majority in the first round?

Naju Seok: That is what Kim’s camp is hoping for. They are strongly encouraging voters to decide the outcome in the first primary round so that a preference vote is not needed. Since the introduction of the preference voting system was itself controversial, they would like to avoid that. For reasons of legitimacy, they would also prefer a clear majority in the first round. Kim’s campaign is therefore focusing all its messaging on wrapping things up in the first round.

So Jongseop: What do you think the chances are?

Naju Seok: It is really difficult to predict at this point.

So Jongseop: I see. So we will have to wait and see the final results. Some in the party are worried that the level of hostility between supporters of Kim Minseok and Jung Chungrae is rising, raising concerns about whether the party will be able to unite after the convention.

Naju Seok: The candidates themselves also seem very aware of this problem. All the candidates are saying essentially the same thing—that there will be ongoing efforts to promote unity. Therefore, while it remains to be seen how nominations for the parliamentary elections two years from now will unfold, for now, some level of mutual acceptance is likely within the party. Even within the top party leadership, both pro-Jung and pro-Lee factions will have to coexist, so there will inevitably be efforts to find common ground.

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