Editorials
Put people's livelihoods before party infighting
As Jung Chung-rae steps down to run again, the ruling party's power struggle threatens to sideline economic pressures facing ordinary households.
Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, right, and Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rae talk during a workshop for local government heads elected in the June 3 local elections at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Seoul on June 21.
NEWS1
With Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rae stepping down on Wednesday to seek another term at the party's August national convention, factional tensions within the ruling party appear set to intensify.
Jung's expected rivals include Prime Minister Kim Min-seok and former party leader Song Young-gil. Kim and Song, both backed by lawmakers aligned with President Lee Jae Myung, are expected to challenge Jung, raising the prospect of an increasingly bitter internal contest.
Signs of that conflict have already emerged. As Jung resigned during a meeting of the party leadership while highlighting President Lee's governing achievements, Supreme Council member Kang Deuk-gu, a close ally of Kim's, responded that "a ship cannot have two captains."
The competition for party leadership, which will effectively determine control over nominations for the next general election, has so far been dominated less by competing policy visions than by attacks among rival factions.
Hard-line pro-Lee supporters have even coined new labels to criticize figures associated with the party's former pro-Moon Jae-in faction, including former Roh Moo-hyun Foundation Chairman Yoo Si-min. Political commentator Kim Eo-jun countered that President Lee's declining approval ratings reflected erosion among his core supporters, warning that replacing the pro-Moon bloc with "New Lee Jae Myung" supporters would be a political miscalculation.
The factional rivalry is also beginning to shape policy in ways that deserve concern. Jung has consistently argued that prosecutors should lose all authority to conduct supplementary investigations. President Lee and Prime Minister Kim, by contrast, have maintained that limited exceptions are necessary to prevent harm to victims. Yet the latest prosecutorial reform proposal appears to favor complete abolition of supplementary investigative powers, reflecting pressure from hard-line party members rather than a balanced policy debate.
If the ruling party devotes its political energy to an escalating struggle for power, urgent economic and social challenges risk being pushed aside.
The Lee administration has been in office for just over than a year. The early stage of any presidency should be devoted to maximizing governing momentum, implementing campaign pledges and laying the foundation for long-term national priorities.
The economic environment leaves little room for political distraction. Households continue to face the combined burden of high inflation, high interest rates and a weak won. Under such circumstances, allowing internal factional battles to overshadow policies aimed at stabilizing livelihoods would represent a failure of responsibility by the governing party.
Voters delivered a clear warning in the June 3 local elections. If the ruling camp remains preoccupied with internal rivalries instead of addressing the concerns of ordinary citizens, the decline in public support may accelerate well beyond the party leadership contest.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
