Democratic Party leadership contenders competed to court the Honam region and continued their rivalry on the 10th. The Gwangju-South Jeolla and North Jeolla areas have emerged as an early battleground in the party convention race, given that roughly 30% of eligible party members are concentrated there. Factional conflict is also intensifying over the "preferential voting system," the primary rule for the party leader election.
Former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok and former Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rae both attended a standing committee meeting held at the party's North Jeolla provincial chapter that day. "I saw in the morning paper that lawmakers were divided into pro-Seok (pro-Kim Min-seok) and such, but that means nothing," Kim said. "This is neither a time for self-serving politics nor a time for the presidential election. Right now, the ruling party has no duty other than to support the president and the government." Kim appeared to indirectly criticize Jung with the phrase "self-serving politics" while emphasizing the ruling party's responsibilities.
Kim also said, "We must achieve greater unity and expansion." After meeting with North Jeolla Governor Lee Won-taek, he rebutted the "North Jeolla marginalization theory" raised in some quarters following the mega-project announcement, saying, "We should not view it from the perspective that a particular region (North Jeolla) has been marginalized."
Jung said, "If people who supported the Democratic Party's four presidents are at odds and cannot unite, how can we expand our base?" He added, "We must not use divisive language, derogatory language, or mockery. I will unite our internal ranks first with the language of comrades."
He then took aim at Kim, saying, "The Democratic Party must reform whether it is the ruling party or the opposition. Many people doubt the complete abolition of supplementary investigation rights as the final step. Who should become party leader to accomplish that? That cannot be answered with words but can be understood by looking at the arduous process of the past year."
Rep. Song Young-gil targeted party sentiment by visiting Samsung Electronics' Gwangju plant and holding a town hall meeting with Gwangju party members. Likening Jung to former national soccer team coach Hong Myung-bo, Song criticized the results of the June 3 local elections, saying, "Didn't they lose by complacently playing 'defensive soccer' and 'bed soccer' within a bureaucratic election committee system?"
The leadership contenders also continued their rivalry over the preferential voting system, which the party's convention preparation committee concluded did not violate the party constitution or bylaws. Kim said, "Normally, candidates in an election should refrain from talking about the rules as much as possible." In contrast, Jung pointed out, "It seems difficult to avoid the controversy that preferential voting violates the party constitution and bylaws."
The party leadership engaged in heated debate over whether to adopt the preferential voting system at a supreme council meeting that morning but failed to reach a conclusion. Kang Deuk-gu, a pro-Lee supreme council member, said, "There is a precedent defining preferential voting as a method for conducting runoff elections." Pro-Jung supreme council member Park Kyu-hwan countered, "Is the insistence on preferential voting, which is not even suited to a rotating primary, because it favors a particular candidate?"
