Calls for Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rae to resign erupted at a closed-door party meeting Wednesday. As the fallout from the June 3 local election results continued, responsibility appeared to be falling on Jung.
According to political sources, some lawmakers at the Democratic Party meeting held that morning argued that Jung should step down to take responsibility for the local election failure and to ensure fair management of the party convention primary.
Two-term lawmaker Chang Chul-min took the floor and said, "The Seoul mayoral election was a crushing defeat, both in substance and in sentiment." He claimed, "There is a rumor that the Democratic Party accurately predicted the defeat through its own analysis but failed to respond. Yet there was no warning at all at the central party level. We must clearly examine this state of system paralysis." He then called for Jung's resignation, saying, "If we are to truly unite and consolidate party strength after the convention, he must resign even today."
Shin Jung-hoon, whose constituency is Naju-Hwasun in South Jeolla Province, reportedly rebuked the party leadership, saying, "Nomination management in the Gwangju-South Jeolla region was extremely unkind and rough." He added, "Errors occurred in the responses during the primary process, and illegal recruitment of party members was rampant. The party's nomination system is in serious trouble."
Lim Mi-ae, who chairs the North Gyeongsang Provincial Party committee, reportedly spoke to the effect that Jung's resignation was necessary for fair management of the party leadership primary. A Democratic Party official who attended the meeting said Lim stated, "Both during President Lee Jae-myung's time as party leader and during Chung Sye-kyun's time, they resigned at least two months in advance."
Choi Min-hee, who is close to Jung, countered in a post on her Facebook page after the meeting, "Lawmaker Chang argued that this election was a major defeat." She wrote, "I said the result (of the metropolitan and provincial head elections) was 12 to 4, and I do not agree with the claim that it was a major defeat." Choi reportedly argued at the meeting that the lack of any photo of President Lee in the campaign materials of Seoul mayoral candidate Jung Won-oh was the cause of the election defeat.
Meanwhile, in his opening remarks at the meeting, Jung said, "Throughout history, we have won when united and lost when divided." He added, "Before the historic task of the success of the Lee Jae-myung administration and a return to power, we must unite first, second, and third." Referring to President Lee's assessment, which expressed regret over the election results, Jung said, "I fully sympathize with President Lee's assessment and perception of the June 3 local election results. What we must now do, with composed minds, is to firmly unite around President Lee, make the government a success, and resolve to achieve a return to power without fail."
