Ex-PM seeks party leadership

Rep. Lee Nak-yon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea speaks at a press conference at the National Assembly, Tuesday. Yonhap

By Do Je-hae

Rep. Lee Nak-yon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) announced, Tuesday, his bid for chairmanship of the party ahead of the party convention to select the leadership next month.

As the strongest potential presidential contender according to opinion polls, if he becomes the party chief, it will give his future presidential bid a boost.

During a briefing, the former prime minister for President Moon Jae-in vowed to lead his party to produce effective solutions to some of the most urgent problems facing the nation, particularly the economic crisis amid the COVID-19 pandemic that is afflicting households and businesses as never before.

"I have listened to various opinions from within and outside the party about my bid for the party chairmanship and have come to the conclusion that I should do my best to fulfill the responsibility of overcoming the national crisis that history has entrusted our party with," Lee said in a speech at the National Assembly.

"The ruling and opposition parties cannot insist on going their own separate ways in the face of a national crisis. The 21st National Assembly started with the responsibility of overcoming the crisis. It has a lot of urgent work to do."

Lee underlined the need for effective and swift legislative actions to support the Moon administration's drive for economic recovery as well as reforms in various sectors of society, such as the judiciary. He also highlighted the urgent need to address the rising social inequality.

"First, we need to speed up economic legislation to revive the economy, create employment by fostering new industries in the post-coronavirus era, and give hope to the people, including young people. Second, social legislation is urgently needed to improve polarization and expand the social safety net to protect the weak. Third, we can no longer delay the reform legislation that will promote delayed reforms such as political innovation and overhaul of power institutions," Lee said.

He also underscored a strong resolve to support President Moon's push for reviving talks with North Korea.

"With the inter-Korean summit and the North Korea-U.S. summit after the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, we were able to dream of the possibilities of peace, reconciliation and cooperation. In fact, military tensions have been eased to a considerable extent," Lee said. "But the situation has become unstable again. We need to turn this around."

Rep. Lee Nak-yon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea talks to reporters during a media briefing at the National Assembly, Tuesday. Yonhap

Lee has been topping surveys on favorability ratings as a presidential candidate. If he wins the ruling party leadership, it will significantly boost his political stature and add a new highlight to his already impressive political resume, which includes serving the longest term as prime minister in over 30 years, as well as five terms as a lawmaker and governor of South Jeolla Province.

Lee's big competition is expected to come from another DPK heavyweight Kim Boo-kyeom, a former interior minister under the Moon administration. He ran for a district in Daegu in the general election and lost, but is still seen as a possible contender for the DPK presidential candidate.

Kim has been running a YouTube channel to speak about current issues and is expected to announce his bid on Thursday.

Although Lee is regarded as having the upper hand on Kim for the party leadership, some party members point out that he will take the position for only seven months if he runs for the presidential election. This is because of the party's regulations stating that a party leader who wants to run for president must quit the post a year before the election date. The next presidential election is March 9, 2022, meaning Lee must quit by March 9, 2021, if he intends to pursue the presidency.

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