'Andong·Daegu·Seongnam' Candidacy List... The Ongoing Spark of Lee Jae-myung's Challenging District Candidacy Debate

Bimyeong Faction Pressures Lee Jae-myung to Run in Difficult Districts
"Leadership Must Be Ready to Sacrifice to Accelerate Innovation"
"Party Leader Cannot Command General Election in Own District" Rebuttal Also Raised

On the 17th, five months ahead of the general election, demands for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, to run in a challenging district continue to grow. In addition to non-Lee Jae-myung faction lawmakers who are pushing for factionalization, senior party member Kim Doo-kwan also pressured Lee to run in a tough district. However, within the party, there are counterarguments that it is not appropriate for the party leader to be tied to a specific constituency from the perspective of election strategy.

Yoon Young-chan, a lawmaker who launched the non-Lee Jae-myung faction group 'Principles and Common Sense,' said, "The general election is ultimately a competition of innovation," and evaluated that "the Democratic Party is responding too complacently." He argued that Lee must make a decision to run in a challenging district in order not to fall behind in the innovation competition with the ruling party.

In an interview with CBS Radio on the same day, Yoon said, "Since it is a matter for Lee Jae-myung himself to decide, it is not a matter for others to force him to go to a specific region," but emphasized, "If the party leader, the leadership, and senior lawmakers show a determination to sacrifice for this election, it will accelerate the party's atmosphere of innovation."

A specific list of next constituencies to run in has even been released. Earlier, lawmaker Lee Won-wook recommended that Lee run in his hometown, Andong City, Gyeongbuk Province, and lawmaker Kim Doo-kwan pointed to challenging districts such as Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province, Andong City in Gyeongbuk Province, and Daegu as places where the party leadership should run.

Lee Won-wook pressured Lee by reiterating that if Lee decides to run in a challenging district, he himself would also run in a tough district. On the same day on YTN Radio, Lee said, "A politician must keep their word as if it were their life. If pro-Lee Jae-myung faction lawmakers say, 'We will do it too, so you try it,' then I will say, 'Okay, I will do it. For the party, I will put the party before myself unconditionally. No matter how tough the district is,' and I promise this once again to the people."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 17th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Within the party, there are also rebuttals that if the party leader, who should lead the general election, goes to a district, difficulties such as support campaigns will arise. Han Byung-do, chairman of the Democratic Party's Strategic Planning Committee, said, "For the leader, winning the general election will be the standard for all decisions," and questioned, "Is it really advantageous for the party's general election victory for the party leader to go to Gyeongbuk and lead the election in person?"

In a phone interview with SBS Radio's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show' on the same day, Chairman Han said, "The party leader must first lead the entire election, so it is a matter to be carefully judged after comprehensively considering what conditions are suitable, what the public sentiment and understanding are," and added, "Since the People Power Party is also using various strategies, this is definitely not a matter to be decided hastily."

Chairman Han said, "If Lee goes to the challenging district of Gyeongbuk and the approval ratings come out very low, it could have a very negative impact on the whole," and "Then, the conditions to support other candidates requesting support elsewhere will probably be completely impossible."

Former National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won also defended Lee, saying, "How can the party leader guarantee victory in the general election if tied to a district?"

On the 17th, Park posted on his social media, "The theory of Lee Jae-myung running in a tough district raised by some is the lowest-level strategy (hajihachek, 下之下策)," and pointed out, "As the next presidential candidate who enjoys overwhelming national support and the party leader, if he is tied to his own constituency, who will conduct nationwide support campaigns for the general election, and the most effective election campaign function will be lost."

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