Ahead of Cutoff, 'Non-Lee Jae-myung' Candidates Accelerate Unification... Park Yong-jin, Kang Byung-won, Seol Hoon "Join"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Ahead of the preliminary cut-off for the Democratic Party of Korea's party leadership election on the 28th, efforts to unify the non-Lee Jae-myung faction candidates are gaining momentum.

Before the cut-off that narrows down the eight party leader candidates to three, candidates excluding Representative Lee Jae-myung are declaring unification in an attempt to reverse the prevailing sentiment of 'Eodaemyeong (Anyway, the leader will be Lee Jae-myung)'. On the 24th, with successive declarations of unification participation by candidates, attention is focused on whether the 'non-Lee Jae-myung faction candidate unification' will gain traction.

Park Yong-jin, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker. / Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On that day, Representative Park Yong-jin proposed on Facebook in the morning, "I suggest joining the 'Innovation Unification Joint Declaration' before the preliminary cut-off."

He said, "For those like candidate Park Ju-min who need time to consider, I will give sufficient time. However, I propose that any candidate who basically shares a consensus toward Democratic Party innovation and is open to unification, such as candidates Kang Byung-won, Seol Hoon, and Kim Min-seok, join the 'Innovation Unification Joint Declaration' before the preliminary cut-off first."

Kang Byung-won, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is holding a press conference announcing his candidacy for party leader at the National Assembly Communication Office on the 29th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

In response to this proposal, Representative Kang Byung-won said, "I welcome it." Kang, who first proposed the unification declaration, stated on Facebook, "This is a positive response adding to the 'Joint Declaration of Unification before the Cut-off' I mentioned three days ago," and added, "I welcome and thank you."

He emphasized, "As Representative Park said, let's quickly do what we can," and added, "So that our party can create new leadership heading toward the future and offer hope to the public and party members that it can leap forward as a ruling party."

Kang explained, "The reason seven candidates, excluding candidate Lee Jae-myung, are running in this party leadership election is due to a shared problem awareness," and said, "'Leadership without reflection, evaluation, and responsibility' makes stable party innovation and integration impossible."

Following Kang, Representative Seol Hoon also responded that day, "I fully agree with candidate Park's unification proposal."

Representative Seol Hoon, who declared his candidacy for the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is paying respects at the grave of President Kim Dae-jung at the National Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, on the 18th. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

On Facebook, Representative Seol said, "To check the dictatorship of the Yoon Seok-youl government, the Democratic Party must be led by leadership that the ruling party cannot find fault with," and added, "I fully agree with candidate Park Yong-jin's unification proposal."

The phrase "leadership that the ruling party cannot find fault with" is interpreted as targeting Representative Lee Jae-myung, who faces controversies such as judicial risks.

Seol also emphasized, "We must unite in a 1:1 structure in the final round," calling it "the only way to ensure the final round's success and save the Democratic Party." He added, "Before the preliminary cut-off, candidates should pledge to unify for the final round, and those who participated should also declare support for the unified candidate."

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