Kim Boo-kyum "Meeting with Primary Election Losers to Regain Composure and Discuss Joining the Campaign Committee"

Former Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, who serves as the Standing Co-Chair of the Democratic Party's election campaign committee, urged the party to address the wounds caused by the nomination controversy. Former Presidential Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok, who applied for nomination but was excluded from the primary (cutoff), is also expected to possibly play a role in the campaign committee.

After concluding the first meeting of the campaign committee held at the party headquarters on the 12th, Kim expressed his thoughts in a press conference that two follow-up intra-party unification plans should be pursued now that the nominations have been finalized. He said, "During the meeting, Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung had to leave, so we communicated through written notes. We plan to meet each of those who were eliminated in the nomination process, help them overcome their difficulties, and have them join the campaign committee to show the public a united Democratic Party. We will discuss ways to do this," adding, "I sincerely urge everyone to reach out to those who did not get a chance in the primaries."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding Lee’s criticism of the nomination turmoil as a media framing, Kim said, "There is certainly another opinion on whether it met the standards and expectations of the public," but also added, "If we keep pointing out whether yesterday’s strategy meeting was right or whether yesterday’s foul was justified, we feel regretful as well, but the nature of elections means we cannot remain stuck there."

However, Lee Hae-chan, former party leader and another Co-Chair of the campaign committee, forecasted, "Fortunately, those who lost in the primaries have shown a willingness to participate in the campaign committee willingly, so overall, there should be no new divisive factors."

Regarding the election goal for seats, Lee said, "The more, the better," and added, "We can gain many seats only if the public feels our sincerity."

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