Lee Jae-myung: "Don't Worry Too Much About Your Nominations... If You Do Your Best, the People and Party Members Will Give You a Chance" (Comprehensive)

Lee Jae-myung "I don't want to lose another election... Responsibility weighs heavily on my shoulders"

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party representative candidate, is holding a press conference at the National Assembly on the 3rd. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate, is holding a press conference at the National Assembly on the 3rd. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Koo Chae-eun and Park Joon-yi] Lee Jae-myung, a candidate running for the Democratic Party leadership election, directly addressed mainstream Democratic Party lawmakers who are concerned about ‘nomination massacres,’ saying, “Don’t worry too much about your own nominations.”

At the first press briefing held on the morning of the 3rd at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building, Candidate Lee said, “I hope you don’t worry too much about your own nominations and do your best for the party. I believe that the public and party members will give you a chance.”

Regarding concerns about the party becoming a personal faction, Lee said, “I cannot understand why people talk about the fear of factionalization. I tell party members that the Democratic Party is already a public party operating under a system. I want to assure you that this is firm,” adding, “It could be anxiety, suspicion, or even an attack, but especially regarding nominations, the Democratic Party has a clear system based on 50% party members and 50% public voting as a principle.”

Lee also said, “If a competitive candidate has loyalty and enthusiasm for the country and the people, as well as capability and achievements, their right to be judged and chosen by party members and the public is guaranteed by a firm system,” emphasizing, “I hope there is no doubt about this. And factionalization is impossible.”

Lee explained, “I am currently not in the middle of Yeouido but at the boundary point. The party fundamentally pursues diversity. Thinking that the party should have a single thought or will is not a party but an organization,” adding, “Bureaucracies and the military are called organizations. They do not accept different opinions. A party is a collection of people with different thoughts, and that is why it is called a party.”

He continued, “Therefore, differences are not something to exclude or fight against but important resources that generate so-called synergy by dividing roles to increase overall efficiency,” and said, “Being different allows you to hold more. If everything is the same, you can only hold one thing. If you gather only cement, it becomes a pile of cement; if you gather only sand, it becomes a pile of sand. But if you gather cement, sand, gravel, and water, it becomes concrete. That is the essence of politics.”

Regarding investigations by the prosecution and police and the resulting ‘judicial risk’ attacks within the party, he said, “It is very regrettable and also saddening.” He questioned, “Isn’t it too harsh to only take issue with the fact that ‘you have been reported’ or ‘you are being investigated by state agencies’?” He added, “I have been investigated thoroughly for over a decade as if dusting off, but isn’t the fact that there is no evidence?” He countered, “If there is wrongdoing, it should be pointed out specifically. You should not say, ‘I think there might be signs of possible wrongdoing.’”

He also strongly criticized the various investigations against him, even using the term ‘national disorder.’ He pointed out, “Among advanced political and economic countries, there is no country where the prosecution and police, who have the power to investigate and prosecute crimes and are responsible for maintaining the most basic order of society, intervene in politics, influence it, and serve the political interests of a specific political force.” He added, “This is the most serious national disorder, and the application of the law must be fair,” emphasizing, “Equality before the law is the most important area.”

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