Lee Nak-yeon in Self-Quarantine... Kim Boo-kyum "Party Convention Should Be Postponed" Park Joo-min "Will Proceed Even Alone"

A post uploaded on Facebook on the 20th by Lee Nak-yeon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea running for party leader. / Photo by Lee Nak-yeon

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kang Juhee] As Lee Nak-yeon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea running for party leader, has entered a two-week self-quarantine, attention is focused on the campaign activities of competing candidates Kim Boo-kyum and Park Jumin.

Earlier, Lee was notified by the health center to self-quarantine for two weeks after close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case. Accordingly, Lee is expected to miss external schedules, including the main event of the party convention scheduled for the 29th, until noon on the 31st when his self-quarantine ends. Due to Lee’s self-quarantine, the MBC-hosted party leader candidate TV debate scheduled for today (20th) was also canceled.

On the 20th, Lee posted on his Facebook, "It is the third day of self-quarantine, and people who are concerned about me are calling," adding, "My body feels comfortable after a long rest, but my mind is not at ease."

Competing candidate Kim Boo-kyum requested a postponement of the party convention and other election schedules until Lee’s self-quarantine is lifted.

In a statement issued under his spokesperson’s name on the same day, Kim said, "Due to Lee Nak-yeon’s self-quarantine, critical campaign activities such as mutual TV debates and candidate speeches at the delegates’ convention have inevitably been disrupted," and "We request a suspension of the election schedule for selecting the party leader."

He emphasized, "The most important thing in the party leader election is the right of party members and the public to know. All three candidates should be given equal opportunities to introduce themselves."

In an interview with KBS Radio’s 'Kim Kyung-rae’s Strong Current Affairs' on the same morning, Kim also said, "It doesn’t make much sense for me or candidate Park Jumin to campaign actively while one candidate cannot."

Park Ju-min, Lee Nak-yeon, and Kim Bu-gyeom, candidates running for the Democratic Party of Korea leadership election, posed after attending the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam regional broadcast debate at Busan MBC on the 31st of last month. Photo by Yonhap News

On the other hand, Park Jumin stated that he will proceed with his campaign schedule as planned. After the TV debate was canceled, Park has been actively campaigning by holding a 'solo debate' through YouTube and social networking services (SNS).

On the same day, Park posted a photo on his Instagram with the phrase "Candidate debate canceled, but I will do it alone," saying, "I plan to hold a 100-minute one-person debate. The debaters are me and you. Please ask me many questions."

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party’s Election Commission reportedly held an emergency meeting on the day to discuss the party convention’s proceedings.

According to media reports, Min Hong-chul, chairman of the Democratic Party Central Election Commission, briefed after a meeting held at the National Assembly in the morning, saying, "The nationwide KBS broadcast debate scheduled for the 27th will be conducted via video conference or other methods," and "The non-face-to-face joint speech event for the metropolitan area scheduled for the 22nd will be held as originally planned with live streaming."

He added, "The speech method for party leader candidates will be decided through agreement among the candidates," and "To maximize support for candidates’ campaigns following the cancellation of the TV debate, we plan to organize additional debates using YouTube."

Whether the party convention scheduled for the 29th will proceed as planned will be decided at the Supreme Council meeting tomorrow (21st).

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