Rep. Jung Jin-wook of the Democratic Party said Wednesday that he will run for a supreme council member seat in the party's Aug. 17 national convention, arguing that "internal debate and democracy within the party have vanished over the past year under Chairman Jung Chung-rae's leadership."
Appearing on KBS Radio's "Urgent Current Affairs" that day, Jung said, "Under Chairman Lee Jae-myung's leadership, when there was a problem, someone would speak up confidently and raise the issue. I have a very serious sense of concern about how the party is currently being run."
Regarding writer Yoo Si-min's "Democratic Party reconstruction theory," Jung pushed back, saying, "What the president aims for is national unity and dreaming of a country where all people move forward together." Yoo had earlier expressed a critical view on the YouTube program "Kim Ou-joon's Dasvedanya," arguing that President Lee's moves to expand outreach to moderates and conservatives had triggered the defection of the Democratic Party's core support base.
On the downward trend in President Lee Jae-myung's approval ratings, Jung said, "In the June 3 local elections, the results came out on the most important issue for the ruling party, and the people could not help but be disappointed seeing no one take responsibility." He added, "It will be healed once a new leadership is formed."
Regarding the announcement at the presidential office the previous day of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix's plans to invest in a semiconductor cluster in the Honam region, Jung said, "Since President Park Chung-hee announced that he would pursue economic development centered on the Seoul metropolitan area and the Gyeongbu axis, there has been no investment whatsoever in the Honam region." He said, "It was a large-scale investment that resolves that deep-seated grievance of Honam."
He continued, "The Yongin semiconductor cluster has no electricity or water." He added, "The semiconductor industry requires a very stable power supply. If the Hanbit nuclear power plant in Yeonggwang, South Jeolla Province, is operated following a safety inspection, it will generate enough capacity to fully run two or three semiconductor plants. Honam is very rich in renewable energy."
