Chung Cheong-rae: "Honam Is the Root of Democracy... The Nation Must Provide Special Compensation"

Emphasizing the Spirit of May 18 and the History of Democracy at the Gangjin Nominee Conference

"Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City Is a National Project for Honam’s New Leap Forward"

Highlighting the 9 Trillion Won Investment in Saemangeum... Bringing Honam’s Balanced Development to the Forefront

Chung Cheong-rae, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, emphasized at the party’s nominee conference for Jeonnam, Gwangju, and Jeonbuk, held in Gangjin, Jeonnam on May 12, that “Honam has made extraordinary sacrifices for democracy in South Korea,” adding, “It is now time for the nation to respond with extraordinary compensation.”

Taking the stage to deliver his remarks, Chung introduced himself as “a son-in-law of Gangjin, a son-in-law of Honam, and the party leader.” He said, “If it were not for the May 1980 Gwangju Uprising, there would have been no June Democratic Uprising in 1987 and no current Constitution. Today’s democracy has been made possible thanks to the sacrifices of Honam.”

At the Democratic Party of Korea's Nominee Conference for Jeonnam, Gwangju, and Jeonbuk held in Gangjin, Jeonnam on the 12th, Representative Chung Cheongrae emphasized the importance of Honam. Photo by Sim Jinseok

He then recalled the 12·3 Emergency Martial Law incident.

Chung explained, “At that time, citizens and the public rushed to the National Assembly, buying time, and lawmakers risked their lives to scale the walls and pass the resolution lifting martial law. The root of that power, too, is the spirit of Gwangju.”

This statement repositions Honam at the core of the Democratic Party’s recently emphasized narrative of “defending democracy.” Chung went a step further by officially raising the idea of “special compensation for Honam.”

He stated, “If Honam has made extraordinary sacrifices for South Korean democracy, the nation should also provide extraordinary compensation,” adding, “The symbolic project proposed is the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City.”

Chung highlighted, “President Lee Jaemyung has pledged an investment of 5 trillion won per year, totaling 20 trillion won over four years,” defining the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City as “a national project for Honam’s new leap forward.”

Chung then introduced Min Hyung-bae, who was selected as the Democratic Party’s candidate for the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Mayoral race, and asserted, “If Candidate Min wins, the blueprint for the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City will be fully realized.” This connects the upcoming local election to a political test for securing momentum to pursue the integrated special city initiative.

He also delivered a message about balanced development for Jeollabuk-do.

Introducing Lee Wontak, the Democratic Party’s preliminary candidate for Governor of North Jeolla Province, Chung emphasized, “A large-scale investment of 9 trillion won will be made in the Saemangeum Project,” and vowed, “North Jeolla will also be developed in a special way.”

Finally, Chung urged the candidates to remain humble, saying, “The election is not over until it’s over. You must approach it with earnestness and from the people’s perspective.”

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