As calls mount over Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rae's responsibility for the June 3 local election results, Kim Yong, former vice president of the Democratic Research Institute, said Friday that "the heavy responsibility for strategic failure and absence must be felt and shouldered with one's whole body by the party leader and the leadership."
Kim wrote on Facebook that day that "the party leader's perception that this local election was a nationwide victory for the Democratic Party and that the loss in Seoul is painful is lazy and complacent, and differs far too greatly from public sentiment." Regarding Jung's announcement the previous day that he would publish a white paper on the local election, Kim also struck directly, saying, "Evaluation of the election results is not something to hastily hide behind a 'white paper' or to attribute to systemic problems."
He said that the National Assembly entry of Han Dong-hoon, "the final person responsible at the center of the political prosecution's orchestrated investigations and fabricated indictments, is a revival of the political prosecution that sought to exterminate the opposition party, and a regression of history that foreshadows the concealment of fabricated crimes that have been painstakingly brought to light." Regarding Daegu mayor-elect Choo Kyung-ho and the parliamentary entry of lawmakers Lee Jin-sook and Kim Tae-kyu, he said, "This is serious. Should we accept such results merely as the choice of local residents?"
Citing Ulsan as an example, he said, "Through candidate Kim Sang-wook's sincerity, the efforts of city party chairman Kim Tae-sun and the local political circle, and the magnanimous decision of the Progressive Party, we managed to make Kim Sang-wook mayor with difficulty," but added, "Had unification been prepared through the central party's systematic design and support, candidate Jeon Tae-jin would also have won."
Kim stressed, "This is not the time to be intoxicated by the overall figure of 12 to 4 and celebrate victory," adding, "We must coldly analyze and respond to these results, including the failure to retake the Seoul mayoral seat, which was the biggest contest, and our handing over of strongholds we absolutely should have defended."
He also said, "I, too, will reflect and take the lead in painful reform." Kim had hoped to run in the National Assembly by-elections held alongside the June 3 local elections, but was excluded from the Democratic Party's nomination.
