Hwang Kyo-ik: "Lee Nak-yeon, blinded by the presidency... Such a person should be removed from the One Team"

Criticism of Lee Nak-yeon's Primary Result Objection: "No Sense of One-Team Urgency"

Taste columnist Hwang Kyo-ik. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Ju-hee] Food columnist Hwang Kyo-ik criticized the former leader of the Democratic Party, Lee Nak-yeon’s camp, for raising objections to the Democratic Party presidential primary results, saying they are "so blinded by 'President Lee Nak-yeon' that they cannot distinguish friend from foe."

On the 12th, Hwang wrote on his Facebook, "Lee Nak-yeon’s camp only thinks 'Lee Jae-myung is not acceptable,'" expressing this view.

He said, "Even if a runoff vote is held and Lee Jae-myung wins, (Lee’s camp) will persist with 'Lee Jae-myung is not acceptable,'" adding, "Trying to form one team with such people is no different from trying to form one team with the Taegeukgi Unit."

In another post, Hwang stated, "Lee Nak-yeon’s camp says they want one team and proposes a runoff vote. One team is not for Lee Jae-myung. It is a citizen’s mandate for Democratic politicians to unite for the reestablishment of Democratic power," and criticized, "Lee Nak-yeon’s camp lacks urgency for one team. It is because they are blinded by 'President Lee Nak-yeon,' not the reestablishment of Democratic power." He further argued, "Such politicians hinder the reestablishment of Democratic power and should be excluded from one team."

Earlier, Lee’s camp virtually expressed non-acceptance of the primary results that elected Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung as the party’s presidential candidate. On the 10th, in the Democratic Party’s final primary results, Lee Jae-myung secured a majority with 719,905 votes out of 1,459,992 cumulative votes, achieving 50.29%, and was officially selected as the Democratic Party candidate. Lee Nak-yeon came in second with 560,392 votes, 39.14%.

However, Lee’s camp raised objections to the party leadership regarding the policy of invalidating votes obtained by candidates who withdrew mid-primary. On the 11th, Hong Young-pyo, co-chairman of Lee Nak-yeon’s campaign, held a press conference at the National Assembly, stating, "The incorrect invalidation of votes must be corrected," and demanded, "(If invalid votes are validated) Lee Jae-myung’s vote share would drop to 49.32%, falling short of the majority, and a runoff vote must be held."

In response, the party leadership maintains that Lee Jae-myung has already been confirmed as the candidate. Party leader Song Young-gil said in an interview with TBS Radio’s 'Kim Eo-jun’s News Factory,' "On October 10, Election Commissioner Lee Sang-min declared Lee Jae-myung as the Democratic Party presidential candidate, and I delivered the party’s recommendation letter to Lee Jae-myung," adding, "(Lee Nak-yeon) must politically accept this."

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