A clash erupted between Rep. Song Young-gil and former party leader Chung Cheong-rae, both contenders for leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea, over whether Chung attended the funeral of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun. When Song attacked Chung directly, saying he "could not even attend the funeral," Chung made no effort to hide his displeasure, asking, "Do you have to go this far?" As the dispute over "legitimate succession" among leadership contenders spread into a fight over past records, concerns have emerged that factional conflict has reached a dangerous level.
The controversy began Tuesday when Song, in a KBS radio interview, targeted Chung by claiming, "The former leader completely turned his back on former President Roh, so he could not even attend the funeral. If we are going to argue about legitimate succession, the former leader at least cannot do so." Song directly raised an objection to Chung recently defining himself as a "Roh Moo-hyun Kid" and emphasizing his pro-Roh legitimacy.
In response, Chung immediately posted a message on his social networking service (SNS) titled "Do you have to go this far?" to refute the claim. "Rep. Song's claim is 100% the spreading of false information," he said, urging Song to "apologize." After a party caucus meeting that afternoon, Chung told reporters, "Because (Rep. Song) stated false facts, he should apologize," signaling a hard-line response by adding, "(If he does not apologize) shouldn't I take whatever measures I can to protect my honor?" Rep. Han Min-soo, a member of the pro-Chung faction, said, "The former leader visited the mortuary at Bongha Village the day after Roh's passing to pay his respects and also attended the funeral."
As the controversy grew, Song moved to defuse it. After the caucus meeting, he told reporters, "Failing to protect former President Roh is the responsibility of all of us." He explained, "It is a problem that all of us, including myself, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, and the former leader, must reflect upon. My intention was to say we should not attack Prime Minister Kim over that issue."
Political observers say the clash was already foreseen amid an uncontrollably intensifying leadership race. This is because Chung's "legitimate succession theory" has been interpreted as effectively aiming to highlight the record of Prime Minister Kim, who left the party during the 2002 presidential election to join the camp of candidate Chung Mong-joon. Kim, on the defensive, recently defined himself as "a disciple of Kim Dae-jung" to emphasize his Democratic Party legitimacy. Analysts say Song, who has left open the possibility of a runoff alliance with Kim, has taken the lead in the charge against Chung. Rep. Park Jie-won also joined in during a radio interview that day, saying, "The more legitimate successor is Prime Minister Kim."
The legitimacy dispute is also intensifying further into a clash over the party's policy and operating principles. Song that day criticized Chung's push to abolish the prosecution's supplementary investigation authority, saying it "seems like an opposition party fighting against the government." With a truth dispute between Kim and the pro-Chung faction over the timing of processing prosecution reform legislation continuing as well, observers point out that the Democratic Party's national convention is drifting toward a fight over past records and legitimate succession rather than a competition over policy.
