Choi Moon-soon: "COVID-19, Impact of Vacation Season"
"Postponing the Primary Is Appropriate"
Yoon Young-chan of Lee Nak-yeon's Faction Also Agrees
Lee Jae-myung's Side Rejects Primary Postponement
Growing Criticism of Basic Income from Ruling Party
[Asia Economy Reporters Koo Chae-eun and Jeon Jin-young] While the conflict between former Supreme Council member Lee Jun-seok, who is leading in various opinion polls as the top candidate for party leader, and other senior lawmakers is intensifying within the People Power Party, the atmosphere in the Democratic Party of Korea is heating up with a power struggle between Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung and other candidates. If the People Power Party is divided over the issue of ‘Yoon Seok-yeol recruitment,’ the Democratic Party is debating ‘basic income’ and ‘postponement of the primary election.’
Choi Moon-soon, Governor of Gangwon Province, who declared his presidential bid, appeared on YTN’s ‘Hwang Bo-seon’s Start of a New Morning’ on the morning of the 7th and said, "Because of COVID-19, the number of people who can gather is limited, and since the primary is scheduled during the vacation season, I think postponing it is appropriate."
Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Young-chan, known to be aligned with Lee Nak-yeon, also supported the postponement of the primary. Appearing on BBS’s Park Kyung-soo’s Morning Journal, he argued, "The last party convention was conducted mainly online and failed to attract interest," adding, "If we consider that the primary should be held in a way that helps win the general election, I think there is an answer to this issue." Lawmakers Park Yong-jin and Lee Kwang-jae, who have declared their candidacies, also support postponing the primary. The ‘Deomincho,’ a group of first-term lawmakers, plans to officially discuss the postponement issue this week.
On the other hand, Kim Byung-wook, a Democratic Party lawmaker who serves as the head of Governor Lee’s think tank ‘Success Forum,’ drew a line on MBC Radio’s ‘Kim Jong-bae’s Focus,’ saying, "I have no intention of agreeing to the postponement of the primary. It could cause discord within the party."
Along with the postponement debate, criticism within the ruling party against Governor Lee’s key policy of ‘basic income’ is also intensifying. Presidential candidates Lee Nak-yeon and Chung Sye-kyun have been pointing out the problems of basic income day after day, sharpening their stance. However, Lee Jae-myung’s faction of lawmakers is showing an attitude of ‘indirectly addressing internal party criticism but responding intensively to criticism from the opposition.’ Regarding criticism from People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Hee-sook, Kim Byung-wook sharply retorted, "It seems she thinks that a verbal confrontation with the leading candidate Lee Jae-myung will help her status, but this is political agitation."
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