Park Jie-won Criticizes Democratic Party Convention Candidates, Cites Chung Bong-ju Case

Park Jie-won, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, issued a stern warning, stating, "If things continue like this, the party will break apart or go bankrupt," as he criticized the heated competition among candidates for the party's national convention. On August 4th, Park quoted the title of a column by Seong Han-yong, a senior reporter at the Hankyoreh, on Facebook, expressing strong concerns that excessive debate among candidates could lead to a party crisis. He particularly pointed to former lawmaker Chung Bong-ju, who lost in a past convention, saying that there are "too many Chung Bong-ju 2, 3, and 4s" at the current convention.

He cited the case of Chung's failure to secure a leadership position in the August 2024 convention due to controversial remarks, so-called 'Lee Jae-myung 'selling' comments,' emphasizing that the party should focus on public livelihood issues instead of internal conflict.

Park further characterized the current convention as a confidence vote for party leader Lee Jae-myung, arguing that the leader's success would lead to the creation of a future government, and urged party members to awaken.

Meanwhile, during a supreme council candidate debate held on August 3rd, candidates Choi Min-hee and Kim Young-ho engaged in a heated exchange, accusing each other of being infiltrated by 'Ilbe (a far-right online community) culture.'