Song Young-gil Emphasizes 'One Team,' "Gap Between Regime Change and Re-election Narrows... We Must Unite More Than Ever"

Song "Gap between 'Regime Change vs Regime Re-creation' narrows from 15 percentage points to 3.9 percentage points"
"An important moment to firmly establish the flow of change"
"Fomenting controversy is a regressive act that harms unity and breeds distrust"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, emphasized that unity is more important than exhausting internal debates for winning next year's presidential election. He urged that among the six presidential candidates, whoever becomes the nominee, the other five will become comrades who will later serve as campaign committee chairs, so they should compete fiercely but play fair.

Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is delivering a greeting at the 'One Team' agreement ceremony for the 20th presidential election candidates held at the central party office in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 28th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On the 28th, Song attended the '20th Presidential Election Candidate One-Team Agreement Ceremony' held at the party headquarters in Yeouido and said, "Our party members are anxious about the recent disputes occurring during the primary process," adding, "We must compete cautiously and strive to earn the trust and expectations of the people with the dignity and attitude befitting the ruling party."

In particular, Song pointed out that the party's approval rating has recently stabilized and urged the entire Democratic Party to be careful and cautiously meet the public's expectations during this time.

Song said, "When I first became party leader, the public opinion index of people hoping for a regime change was between 52% and 54%. Those hoping for the ruling party's re-election were between 36% and 38%, showing a gap of about 15 percentage points," then explained, "But recently, it has narrowed to 48% versus 44%, a difference of about 3.9 percentage points."

He interpreted this as "the public's increasing opinion that the ruling party should be entrusted with uninterrupted governance."

He continued, "The Democratic Party's support is also steadily recovering," and said, "As party leader, I assure you that the six candidates will compete fairly in the primary, and whoever becomes the nominee, we will make thorough preparations to secure victory on March 9 next year."

He also called this "an important moment to further solidify this trend of change," and addressed the presidential candidates, saying, "Regardless of the circumstances, engaging in backward and exhausting debates harms party unity and fosters distrust among supporters, which is a regressive behavior." Song emphasized, "There must never again be sharp language that deeply wounds others' hearts," and stressed, "All candidates are partners and comrades in creating the fourth Democratic government."