Jung Chungrae Faces "Subak" Criticism from Some Democratic Party Supporters
"When Cut Off from Nomination, I Farmed Watermelons in My Garden"
"Why Would I Choose the Difficult Path of a King-Sized Watermelon?"
Jung Chungrae, a lawmaker running for the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea, refuted the "Subak" criticism raised by some, saying, "Subak? No, no." The term "Subak" (watermelon) is used as a derogatory expression to refer to those who appear to be Democratic Party members on the surface but in reality act in favor of the People Power Party, and is mainly used to disparage non-Lee Jaemyung factions.
A photo of Jung Chungrae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, farming watermelons during the 2016 20th general election cut-off period.
On the 13th, Jung shared a photo of himself holding a large watermelon on his social media, saying, "Based on my experience farming watermelons, growing a king-sized watermelon is truly difficult." It is known that this photo was taken during the 2016 20th general election cut-off period, when he farmed and harvested watermelons.
Jung said, "When I was cut off from the party nomination, I declared, 'Even if the party leadership abandons me, I will protect the party,' and 'I am willing to be a sacrifice for the party's victory in the general election.' I formed a campaign team and traveled across the country. After the election ended, I felt empty. While I was out supporting other candidates, I didn't realize it, but when I actually became a former lawmaker, I had no office to go to," he said. He continued, "So I started working hard on my garden. When I worked up a sweat, at least during that time, all distracting thoughts disappeared, and it was healing and comforting. Because of the sweat pouring down like rain, I was able to hide my tears," he added.
He explained, "The probability of failing at watermelon farming is several times higher than the probability of succeeding. You have to provide enough fertilizer, ensure proper drainage, and prune at the right time. The king-sized watermelon I'm holding in the photo weighs 12 kilograms. I succeeded in farming watermelons just once at that time, and since then, I have mostly failed."
Jung said, "King-sized watermelons are hard to grow and hard to succeed with. If anyone from an unknown and unverified source still calls me a king-sized watermelon, I can say this clearly: Why would I walk such a difficult path?" He went on to say, "Some people may be stressed by the party convention, and others may be struggling with the hot weather. In times like these, let's cool off by splitting open a watermelon and enjoying it together. Let's make the party convention a festival where we laugh and have fun."
Jung also responded during an interview on CBS Radio's "Park Jaehong's Hanpan Seungbu" on June 24, saying, "If someone insults me by calling me a watermelon, who would accept that? People will just think, 'Jung Chungrae is being unfairly attacked,' or 'He's being targeted by some scheming forces.' That's the impression it would give."
He added, "Wouldn't that actually make my supporters unite even more? That's why every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Watermelons are in supermarkets or markets. If you call Jung Chungrae a watermelon, then who isn't a watermelon?"
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