Yoon Ho-jung on 'Song Young-gil Draft Rumors': "Many Are Seriously Considering Running... It's Not a Lack of Candidates"

"The Timing Is Too Early for Lee Jae-myung's Draft"

Yun Hojung, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kang Woo-seok] On the 30th, Yoon Ho-jung, Emergency Committee Chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea, said regarding the 'rumor of former leader Song Young-gil being drafted as Seoul mayor candidate,' "There are quite a few people within the party who are seriously considering running, either voluntarily or involuntarily. The party needs to wait until those individuals make their decisions."

On the same day, Chairman Yoon appeared on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' and stated, "We (the leadership) are strategically considering the local elections," adding, "Many people within the party are contemplating, and currently Kim Dong-yeon, leader of the New Wave, plans to join the party through a merger."

He continued, "I want to say that our party's leadership is not facing a shortage of candidates as the media suggests," and when asked by the host whether there is a judgment or atmosphere that "it is quite feasible to run in Seoul," he replied, "Yes."

Regarding the local election primary rules, he said, "Our party's basic position is that primaries should be conducted according to our party's existing constitution and regulations," but also noted, "In the past, during Mayor Park Won-soon's time, since our party's candidate was not running but a representative from civil society, a different rule was applied for the unification primary."

He added, "It may be difficult to apply the (Park Won-soon) model within the party. However, this does not mean that there will be no primary; there have been cases where different primary methods were applied based on strategic judgment."

Regarding the role of Senior Advisor Lee Jae-myung, he said, "It seems too early to discuss the issue of him running as a candidate, as some have suggested," and drew a line by saying, "The party needs to consider more, and I believe the advisor himself is also deeply contemplating."

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