[Leadership Candidate Interview] One Day Before Ruling Party Convention... Park: "Public Support for Lee Jaemyung and Park Chandae Is Growing"

Strong Confidence in the Golden Cross
Highlighting Strengths in Strategy and Policy
Emphasizing One-Team Cooperation with the New Administration
Reflecting Party Members' Opinions in Local Elections

"Support for President Lee Jaemyung and Park Chandae is growing."

Park Chandae, a lawmaker who has declared his candidacy for the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated in a written interview with Asia Economy on the 1st, just one day before the decisive party convention, "A golden cross is forming." In the online vote for party members with voting rights in the Chungcheong and Yeongnam regions held on July 19-20, Park (37.35%, 45,310 votes) trailed behind lawmaker Jung Cheongrae (62.65%, 76,010 votes) by 25.3 percentage points. However, the votes from the Chungcheong and Yeongnam regions account for only 8% of the total, and with 92% of the votes still remaining, the outcome is far from certain.

He stated, "Recently, the party members I have met in the field want someone who has completed the end of internal strife and prosecution reform, someone who has experience working closely with President Lee and can unite the party and the government as one team, someone with an accounting background and economic expertise who can revive the people's livelihood, and someone capable of expanding the party's appeal to moderates and leading the party to victory in local elections as a national party." Since announcing his candidacy on June 23, Park has carried out a hectic schedule, including spending a week in the Honam region, participating in flood recovery efforts, holding talk concerts, meeting with basic-level lawmakers and party members, and visiting traditional markets and other sites related to people's livelihoods.

Park Chandae, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, expressed confidence in victory during a written interview with Asia Economy on the 31st, stating, "Support for President Lee Jae-myung and Park Chandae is growing." Photo by Park Chandae's office

He highlighted his strengths as the experience he gained while serving as floor leader, which includes strategy, policy, negotiation, nomination, ethics, and presiding over the general assembly of lawmakers, as well as his drive that led to the impeachment of former President Yoon Sukyeol and victory in the presidential election. He said, "Out of 406 days of my term, I spent 369 days eating, sleeping, and fighting in the National Assembly. Reform is not something to be shouted about, but something that must be delivered as results."

In particular, Park emphasized, "Since the Democratic Party is now the ruling party, the party leader must be able to form a one-team with the government and the presidential office, and not only drive reform but also achieve recovery of livelihoods?that is, catch 'two rabbits at once'." He continued, "What the Democratic Party needs now is not an 'opposition party that is loud,' but a 'ruling party that delivers results,' and I am ready to fulfill that role," sending a warning to lawmaker Jung as well.

Regarding the Lee Jaemyung administration, which marks its 60th day since inauguration today, he said, "Despite starting without a presidential transition committee, it has formed a working cabinet, and through swift governance?such as the G7 summit and the passage of a supplementary budget for livelihood recovery?it has provided the public with a sense of efficacy." On the Korea-US tariff agreement, he commented, "I believe the Lee Jaemyung administration's negotiations concluded in a way that serves the national interest," but added, "The 50% steel tariff, which has been in effect since last month, is likely to be maintained. This is an issue that needs to be resolved through future negotiations."

He expressed concern about the situation of the main opposition party, the People Power Party. Park said, "The People Power Party is not only failing to innovate but is still entangled with far-right and insurrectionist forces. Unless it severs ties with those who have incited internal strife and violated the Constitution, cooperation will be impossible for a responsible opposition party."

Regarding the growing attention on the Democratic Party's nominations for next year's local elections as the ruling party, he said, "We will create a system that allows party members' opinions to be reflected in the nomination process, so under the Park Chandae leadership, there will be no parachute nominations or secretive nominations." Park has previously announced transparent local election pledges, including the introduction of a public election system in which the party reimburses primary expenses, the transparency of the nomination verification process, the establishment of a predictable nomination system, and the inclusion of party member evaluations in the evaluation of elected officials by the evaluation committee.

He also introduced plans, as party leader, to develop highly tangible policies through party-government consultations and to examine whether there is excessive profiteering in essential spending categories for ordinary citizens. Park said, "I will develop policies to stabilize the cost of living and examine whether there has been excessive profiteering in spending categories that burden ordinary people even for just breathing, such as bank loan interest, telecommunications fees, electricity and gas charges, and public transportation costs." Regarding the growth of the capital and financial markets, he stated, "Since the new administration took office, expectations for market-friendly policy directions have risen as corporate responsibility and transparency have increased, leading to continued inflows of foreign capital into the domestic stock market." He added, "In the future, we will further enhance shareholder returns and corporate governance transparency through additional amendments to the Commercial Act and other measures, thereby increasing the attractiveness of the domestic stock market."