Four-time lawmaker Kim Min-seok announces bid to run for DP chair
Former Prime Minister Rep. Kim Min-seok on Monday announced his bid to run for Democratic Party of Korea chair at the upcoming party convention in August, slamming his rival for "self-serving" politics.
The outcome of the ruling party's national convention will likely serve as a litmus test to gauge whether the liberal President Lee Jae Myung can cement his leadership within the liberal bloc.
Kim's speech in Gwangju was filled with criticism directed at Rep. Jung Chung-rae, a liberal firebrand who chaired the party from 2025 until last month. Jung recently resigned to rerun for the leadership post.
"The Democratic Party has failed to turn the high approval rating of the ruling bloc into a successful outcome (in the June local elections)," Kim said in his speech delivered at the heart of the liberal stronghold.
"(Jung's) self-serving politics have spiraled the party into confusion, and placed the party-government cooperation under strain," he added.
Kim, who served as the prime minister from July 2025 to June this year, claimed that discord between the Lee administration and the ruling Democratic Party has been a frequent occurrence under Jung's leadership.
Among the examples were the party's unilateral push to merge with the minor liberal Rebuilding Korea Party, its aggressive push to weaken the power of the prosecution, and its move to lay out party strategy for the election under Jung's leadership.
Claiming such moves by the party came without faithful consultations with the liberal Lee administration, Kim said the liberal bloc's politics ended up "lacking contemplation, discourse, procedural justice and consistency."
"If we are not desperate now, we could sink into the quagmire of defeat in the (upcoming) general election (in 2028), so I hereby ask party members and supporters to make the decision to replace the party leader with a sense of desperate urgency," he added.
The Democratic Party stopped short of a landslide victory in the June elections by conceding some key municipalities including Seoul and some heated battlegrounds in the parliamentary by-elections.
In a news conference before his European trip in June, President Lee said the election outcome should not be seen as a success, rebutting Jung's assessment that the party had reaped huge rewards. Meanwhile, Lee hailed Kim for doing a great job in the prime minister post and said it was time to take on a new role.
Later, ahead of Lee's trip to Europe in June, Jung was not invited to the ceremony to send off the president due to "grave situations" at home and abroad, but Kim attended.
Signs of a factional feud in the ruling party became more evident after Jung's remarks implying that no administration would outlast its people.
On Monday, Jung said in a Facebook post in response to Kim's speech that he would "refrain from mudslinging."
Jung in the 2025 Democratic Party leadership race defeated Park Chan-dae, who was the floor leader of the Democratic Party when Lee chaired the party.
All eyes are on whether Kim, considered another political lieutenant of Lee, can buck the trend seen last year in the power struggle between the pro-Jung faction, with roots in former liberal presidents, and the rival faction siding with the incumbent president.
Kim appeared at the National Assembly in Seoul later in the afternoon, and said he would prioritize cooperating in harmony between the ruling party and the government over winning support by attacking political opponents.
Along with Kim and Jung, who are both four-term lawmakers, six-term lawmaker Rep. Song Young-gil is also considered a potential contender for the chair leadership. Song is expected to announce his bid later this week.
consnow@heraldcorp.com
