"Whoever Becomes Candidate, Let's Unite Against Lee Jae-myung"… Kang Byung-won Proposes Unification of Main Election Candidates

Leadership crisis clearly depends solely on one person's political career
Seven remaining candidates excluding Lee Jae-myung propose joint declaration

Kang Byung-won, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea./Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Kang Byung-won, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who challenged the party leadership, proposed a ‘Joint Declaration for Unification in the Final Round’ before the cutoff in the party leadership primary on the 21st. Among the eight candidates who ran in the primary, once three candidates are confirmed through the cutoff, the two candidates excluding Lee Jae-myung would unify to form a front of Lee Jae-myung versus the unified candidate.

On the same day, Kang requested through social media (SNS), "I propose to candidates Kang Hoon-sik, Kim Min-seok, Park Yong-jin, Park Joo-min, Seol Hoon, and Lee Dong-hak," adding, "Please join the before the cutoff on the 28th, which will narrow down the party leader candidates to three." He continued, "No matter who advances to the final round, let’s unify into one candidate and do our best for the victory of the unified candidate. Also, let’s develop the joint declaration into a discussion table that seriously contemplates the future of the Democratic Party."

Kang said, "If it didn’t matter who becomes the party leader, there would have been no reason for as many as seven candidates?from the ‘97 Group Four’ excluding Lee Jae-myung, to Kim Min-seok, Seol Hoon, and Lee Dong-hak?to throw their hats in the ring," adding, "The background of the successive candidacies shares a common awareness of problems: if Lee Jae-myung becomes party leader, ‘our party will be stigmatized as an irresponsible party that does not reflect on defeat,’ ‘division will deepen and party unity will become distant, and the gap between public sentiment and party sentiment will widen, causing the centrist voters to leave,’ and ‘it will be impossible to achieve the historic task of advancing as a governing party.’"

He pointed out, "Relying solely on one person, and thus the party being shaken to its roots depending on one person’s political trajectory, clearly shows the limits of the ‘leadership crisis,’" adding, "If the eye of the storm called the leadership crisis covers party innovation and political reform, and even encroaches on the time of people’s livelihoods facing a complex economic crisis, it is obvious that our party cannot promise a future in the upcoming general, presidential, and local elections."

Kang emphasized, "The Democratic Party stands at a crossroads," and "This party convention will be a ‘critical election’ that decides whether the Democratic Party regresses to the familiar past of defeat and despair or creates hope for victory through new challenges and bold innovation."

Earlier, on the 18th, Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Won-wook also mentioned in an interview with BBS Radio’s ‘Jeon Young-shin’s Morning Journal,’ "There is a consensus to declare unification before the preliminary primary and to vigorously support whoever becomes the unified candidate," adding, "If the party leadership election is held in a one-on-one format between Lee Jae-myung and another candidate, ‘Eojamyeong’ (meaning ‘Anyway Lee Jae-myung’) could change to ‘Eojemyeon Lee Jae-myung’ (meaning ‘Maybe Lee Jae-myung’)."

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