Is It a Foreseen Conflict of the Non-mainstream Party Leader? Song Young-gil's 'Daekkaemun Remark' Sparks Controversy

Focused Attacks on Pro-Moon Core Figures
Former Senior Secretary Choi Jae-sung Calls Party Leader "Biggest Risk" on Facebook
Former PM Chung Sye-kyun Criticizes "Practically Biased Remarks"
Former Leader Lee Nak-yeon Also Urges Apology

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] As Song Young-gil, a lawmaker classified as a 'non-mainstream' within the party, was elected as the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, conflicts with the 'Pro-Roh (Pro-Roh Moo-hyun)' and 'Pro-Moon (Pro-Moon Jae-in)' factions were somewhat anticipated. As the Democratic Party entered the preliminary presidential primary, the conflict surfaced, and its intensity is far from ordinary. Now, the focus has shifted from whether Leader Song can appease the dissatisfaction of the Pro-Moon mainstream to how long he can actually hold on.

On the 6th, a number of figures known as the so-called 'Pro-Moon core' launched a barrage of criticism over Song's remarks the previous day. Choi Jae-sung, former Blue House Senior Secretary for Political Affairs and a Pro-Moon core figure, wrote on Facebook that "the party leader has become the party's biggest risk factor." He pointed to Song as the cause of the recent internal party turmoil.

Song used the term 'Ddaekae-moon' (a slang term referring to ardent supporters of President Moon Jae-in) during a Kwanhun Club debate the day before, which triggered an explosion of dissatisfaction from the Pro-Moon faction, who accused Song of unfairly managing the primary. In the debate, Song said, "With a complacent mindset that it is better to vote for the opposition party than to have a certain candidate become president, one cannot protect President Moon Jae-in nor ensure his success." The 'certain candidate' refers to Lee Jae-myung, the non-mainstream candidate and current governor of Gyeonggi Province, who is leading in the polls.

Jeong Sye-kyun, former Prime Minister and a competitor against Governor Lee in the primary, also responded strongly. On the radio that day, he said, "The party leader spoke as if a certain candidate had already been confirmed. It was essentially a biased remark," and criticized it as "unwise primary management." Another primary candidate, former party leader Lee Nak-yeon’s camp, also issued a statement urging Song to apologize.

Song’s deliberate remarks, despite anticipating internal backlash, seem to reflect concerns that the lingering resentment between Lee and the Pro-Moon camp, as well as the recent formation of a 'non-Lee Jae-myung' faction, have been fully exposed externally and could negatively impact the upcoming presidential election. However, as the Pro-Moon faction’s backlash has been more intense than expected, the internal conflict may either subside or escalate depending on what 'next step' Song takes.

There are a few who sympathize with Song’s concerns. Lawmaker Cho Eung-cheon said, "During the Gyeonggi governor election, I heard that quite a few party members voted in reverse, saying it would be better for Nam Kyung-pil (Lee Jae-myung’s competitor) to win," adding, "If they vote for the opposing candidate in a presidential election, it would be a big problem, so why wouldn’t the leader be worried about that?" However, 'Little Roh' lawmaker Kim Doo-kwan said, "While it may mean asking ardent party members to make rational judgments on current issues, it wasn’t that Pro-Roh supporters didn’t vote, but rather that the moderate voters who lacked confidence in winning the presidential election did not go to the polls," and expressed difficulty agreeing with Song’s remarks.

The backlash from party members is also significant. On the Democratic Party’s rights members’ bulletin board, criticism is flooding in with comments such as "Is Song Young-gil the head of Lee Jae-myung’s campaign headquarters?" and "Is the party leader someone who treats presidential supporters like Park Sa-mo (ardent supporters of former President Park Geun-hye)?"

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