Ruling party mired in infighting over Seoul mayoral candidate

Democratic Party of Korea former Chairman Song Young-gil answers reporters' questions during his visit to a rally for disabled people's rights on Yeouido, Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

Selection committee rules out ex-DPK Chairman Song Young-gil

By Nam Hyun-woo

The committee to select candidates to run for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) in the June 1 local elections has eliminated former Chairman Song Young-gil from the Seoul mayoral race.

If the decision is confirmed by the party's decision-making emergency committee, Song, who had earlier declared his bid to enter the race, will not be able to run in the Seoul mayoral election.

Song's elimination has triggered a disagreement between the party's two main factions, with the group close to Song and former presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung arguing that the selection committee has been making decisions based on “factional interests,” while the other group more aligned with President Moon Jae-in has been denying such claims.

The DPK planned to confirm whether or not to eliminate Song during an emergency committee meeting late Wednesday afternoon. The interim emergency committee is the party's top decision-making body, capable of approving or rejecting recommendations proposed by the selection committee.

The news of Song's elimination from the Seoul mayoral race came out Tuesday night, when the selection committee's list was leaked to the media.

In a statement to reporters, Song strongly objected to the decision, calling it “an act of self-harm,” on behalf of the party, and questioned whether the decision would be approved or not.

“Excluding me from the Seoul mayoral election is nothing more than an act of blaming former presidential candidate Lee for his defeat in the presidential election,” Song said in a radio interview on Wednesday.

During a separate emergency meeting held Wednesday morning, DPK interim chief Park Ji-hyun criticized Song's elimination and accused the selection committee of using a double standard in choosing candidates.

“The committee has ruled out the former party chairman from the list of candidates, despite Song's commitment to the party during the presidential election,” Park said. Park joined the DPK while helping former presidential candidate Lee's election campaign, and rose quickly to the party's leadership as its interim chief.

“On the other hand, the committee recommended a person who is responsible for policy failures in real estate ― the biggest reason for our defeat in the presidential election ― as the North Chungcheong governor candidate,” Park said, referring to Noh Young-min, President Moon Jae-in's former chief of staff who had been selected to run for the governorship a day earlier.

Song served as the DPK's chairman from May 2021 to last month, and also served as Lee's campaign chief. After stepping down from the chairman post to take responsibility for Lee's loss in the March 9 presidential election, Song announced his bid to run for Seoul mayor earlier this month, referring to himself as Lee's successor.

Park called for an internal competition, rather a top-down decision, to select the party's candidate for the Seoul mayoral election. “We should gather up our wisdom to field a candidate who is supported by the public, not one who reflects some people's factional interests,” she wrote on social media.

During the presidential campaign, the DPK saw an internal rift between factions closer to Lee and closer to President Moon. Due to this situation, there have been voices that the DPK should field former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, one of the representative figures of the pro-Moon faction, for Seoul mayor, though the former prime minister himself told reporters Tuesday that he does not plan to run.

Democratic Party of Korea interim chief Park Ji-hyun, left, speaks during the party's emergency committee meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday. Joint Press Corps

The rift between the DPK's pro-Lee Jae-myung and the pro-Moon Jae-in factions seemed to worsen after Noh was selected as the North Chungcheong Province governor candidate. Noh resigned as Moon's chief of staff in August 2020, taking responsibility for the Moon administration's failure to stabilize the domestic real estate market.

“The recommendation committee's decision is based on considerations of the negative impacts of unjustifiable candidates, recent poll results and other surveys done by the committee,” DPK Rep. Lee Won-wook, chairman of the candidate recommendation committee, posted on Facebook.

“Previously, interim chief Park had publicly questioned both Song and Noh's suitability as candidates, due to their respective responsibilities in the presidential election defeat and real estate policies. Park's comment on the factional interests is dubious in its consistency and sincerity. I am a person who is not in either of the two factions, and associating me with any factional fights is an unacceptable embarrassment.”