Democratic Party Faces Internal Strife Over Seoul Mayoral Nomination... Party Rift Emerges After 'Song Young-gil Cutoff'

Party Strategy Committee excludes Song Young-gil and Park Jumin
Emergency Committee draws line, calling it a "delegated body"
Decision likely after re-discussion that evening

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] The Democratic Party of Korea is facing an internal crisis over the Seoul mayoral nomination. The Strategic Nomination Management Committee, which was delegated the authority for nominations, decided to cut off former party leader Song Young-gil and lawmaker Park Ju-min, who ran as candidates in the party primary, sparking criticism within the party.

The Democratic Party's Emergency Response Committee held a meeting on the morning of the 20th to discuss the Seoul mayoral nomination but failed to reach a conclusion and plans to reconvene in the afternoon to continue discussions. The controversy arose after it became known that the party's Strategic Nomination Management Committee held a meeting the previous day and decided to exclude former leader Song and lawmaker Park from the nomination. However, the Emergency Response Committee distanced itself from the committee's decision. Before the closed-door meeting, Co-Chairman Yoon Ho-jung stated, "The Strategic Nomination Management Committee is an organization delegated by the Emergency Response Committee to review strategic nominations," and added, "I have ordered an investigation into how the committee's decision was leaked and have issued a disciplinary order." Co-Chairwoman Park Ji-hyun also criticized, saying, "The committee's decision ignores party members, Seoul citizens, and the public alike," and "Not holding a primary is tantamount to declaring defeat."

It was reported that Lee Won-wook, chairman of the Strategic Nomination Management Committee, called former leader Song after the meeting to inform him of the decision. In response, Song issued a statement saying, "I hope the Emergency Response Committee makes a wise decision regarding the Seoul mayoral nomination," and added, "This is effectively giving up on the June 1 local elections and will be a self-destructive act that destroys the Democratic Party." On the 20th, he also appeared on Gyeongin Broadcasting radio and said, "This is essentially a preemptive strike opposing the political comeback of Senior Advisor Lee Jae-myung. It is inappropriate."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Following the revelation of these facts, backlash arose within the party. Lawmaker Ahn Min-seok, who is running for governor of Gyeonggi Province, opposed the exclusion of former leader Song from the nomination, pointing out, "Following the already predetermined primary for the Gyeonggi governor candidate, the Seoul primary is also heading toward a failure in attracting interest." Lawmaker Kim Nam-guk defended Song, saying, "Former leader Song was our party's immediate past leader who even declared he would not run in the last presidential election and devoted himself to the party," and urged, "Let's declare a primary again according to principles." Former lawmaker Son Hye-won said, "If it goes to the Emergency Response Committee tomorrow, it's over. We must stop it before then." Jeong Da-eun, former deputy spokesperson of the Strategic Nomination Management Committee, also announced her intention to resign from the committee on Facebook the previous night, saying, "I opposed it but it was not enough."

In response, Chairman Lee of the Strategic Nomination Management Committee defended, saying, "The Emergency Response Committee's mission is to ensure the consistency of innovative nominations," and added, "The committee's decision is based on the side effects of unjustified candidacies pointed out by Co-Chairwoman Park, the negative impact on nationwide elections, the recent notable decline in approval ratings in Incheon, and the results of various surveys conducted by the Strategic Nomination Management Committee."

Meanwhile, it is known that the Strategic Nomination Management Committee is seriously considering former Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun and former party leader Lee Nak-yeon as strategic nomination candidates. Park's side previously stated in a phone call on the 6th that she is "considering whether to run." On the other hand, former leader Lee was offered to run but declined. Lee's side responded, "He has been offered by the party for about a month, but as far as we know, his position has not changed."