Kim Nam-guk towards Geum Tae-seop: "I am merely David... Please give me a fair chance to compete"

On the afternoon of the 18th, a statement was released saying, "Are they trying to induce fear of the 'Protecting Joguk' general election to force withdrawal from candidacy?"
Earlier, Geum Tae-seop said, "We must block it for our party... We cannot hold the 'Protecting Joguk' general election."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Wondara] Lawyer Kim Nam-guk, who applied for the nomination in the constituency of Democratic Party lawmaker Geum Tae-seop, criticized Geum by saying, "'Protecting Cho Kuk' election is a primary strategy to pressure me to withdraw from the race," and demanded, "Give me a chance to compete fairly."

On the afternoon of the 18th, Lawyer Kim issued a statement criticizing Geum Tae-seop, saying, "Why are you trying to take away even the opportunity for fair competition from a young person?"

Kim said, "This morning before the party caucus, you said, 'I have to block this for our party. We cannot hold the general election under the banner of protecting Cho Kuk,'" and added, "I want to ask if what you want to block is my candidacy." He continued, "I am also curious about what you said inside the caucus," and added, "After the caucus, I have been receiving calls telling me to give up my candidacy."

Kim pointed out, "No one is shouting to protect Cho Kuk in this election," and said, "I believe your primary strategy is not to instill fear that the election will be about protecting Cho Kuk and pressure me to withdraw." He emphasized, "What are you afraid of? A party that blocks young people's challenges has no future. Give me a chance to compete fairly."

He also criticized, "When I was considering running in Gangseo-gap, the most common feedback I heard was 'impossible.' People said, 'How can you beat an incumbent lawmaker?'" He summarized, "In short, you are Goliath, and I am just David." He added, "I want to have a fair competition with Lawmaker Geum, who said he wants to give his seat to the 2030 generation youth. I will learn a lot."

After issuing the statement, Lawyer Kim also canceled a press conference scheduled for 4:30 p.m. that day. It was initially reported that he would officially announce his candidacy at the press conference.

Earlier, when news broke that Lawyer Kim, who served as a member of the 'Cho Kuk White Paper Promotion Committee,' applied for the nomination in Gangseo-gap, some criticized it as an attempt to oust Lawmaker Geum, who had criticized former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk. Additionally, with the Democratic Party planning to strategically nominate Lawyer Kim Yong-min, who served on the Ministry of Justice and Prosecutor Reform Committee during Cho Kuk’s tenure, in Namyangju-byeong, there were forecasts that the 'Cho Kuk incident,' which led to a sharp decline in the Democratic Party's approval ratings last year, might be repeated in this general election.

Regarding this, before the Democratic Party caucus held at the National Assembly that morning, Lawmaker Geum told reporters, "I have to block this for our party. We cannot hold the general election under the banner of protecting Cho Kuk," when asked about Lawyer Kim registering as a preliminary candidate for Gangseo-gap. He also emphasized, "The Democratic Party must have the ability to self-correct," and added, "Lawyer Kim does not even live in our district."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.