Jeong Cheong-rae: "Cho Kuk's Candidacy, Whether It Benefits or Burdens the Democratic Party... It's Ambiguous"

Jeong Cheong-rae, Democratic Party Supreme Council Member, KBS Radio Interview
"Jo Guk, Song Young-gil... How Can They Run Without Being Party Members?"

As opinions diverge on how former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk's candidacy will affect the opposition party's victory in the general election, Jeong Cheong-rae, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party of Korea, reserved judgment, calling it "uncertain."

On the 24th, Jeong appeared on KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strongest Current Affairs' and said, "No one knows for sure. We don't know if this will be an advantage or a burden."

Jeong Cheong-rae, Supreme Council Member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 25th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Regarding the 'Cho-Chu-Song (Cho Kuk, Chu Mi-ae, Song Young-gil) next year's general election candidacy speculation,' he said, "It's good to talk about it, but only former Minister Chu Mi-ae is a party member," and questioned, "How can someone who is not a party member run for the Democratic Party?"

Jeong added, "Those who vote in the party primaries are people who have paid party dues of 1,000 won each month for at least six months," and said, "It's already too late."

However, he noted that exceptions apply in the case of talent recruitment. He said, "When recruiting talent, they join the party immediately," adding, "Former leader Song Young-gil is currently in a state of withdrawal, and Minister Cho Kuk has never joined the party, it seems. Then the Democratic Party would have to recruit them as talents, have them join the party, and then have them run, which is somewhat difficult."

Regarding the statement made the previous day by Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party leader, who said, "I hope there will be no more back-and-forth over the process of handling the arrest consent bill," Jeong explained, "Right now, people's lives are more difficult, so let's put it aside for a while."

Jeong said, "I expect those who were targeted to stop internal criticism like they did when they actively participated in the National Assembly audit and attacked and criticized Leader Lee Jae-myung, and instead turn their guns outward to criticize the Yoon Seok-youl administration for its tyranny and incompetence."

Regarding the disciplinary action against those who voted in favor of the so-called arrest consent bill, he said, "Even the party leader or the Supreme Council leadership, the party members are the owners of the party, and when party members file a disciplinary petition like this time, the leadership has to state their position," adding, "Since it is a Supreme Council resolution, it is still pending."

He continued, "Those who do well should be rewarded, and those who do wrong should be punished," adding, "Even excluding the five who voted in favor, the Ethics Tribunal will impose discipline. The Supreme Council does not intervene but receives reports."

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