Lee Won-taek's win in North Jeolla offered relief, but failure to retake Seoul and five by-election losses leave scars; calls grow to oust Jung over Pyeongtaek and Busan defeats; South Jeolla Gov. Kim Young-rok vows to remove him from leadership

Jung Chung-rae, the Democratic Party of Korea's overall campaign committee chairman, leaves the election results monitoring room set up at the National Assembly members' office building on Wednesday and heads to his office. [Yonhap]
Jung Chung-rae, the Democratic Party of Korea's overall campaign committee chairman, leaves the election results monitoring room set up at the National Assembly members' office building on Wednesday and heads to his office. [Yonhap]

Attention is turning to the political future of Jung Chung-rae, the Democratic Party of Korea leader who oversaw the party's campaign in Wednesday's local elections.

While the party reclaimed most regional government head posts from the opposition, analysts say the failure to win Seoul — the most consequential race — leaves a blemish on the results. A disappointing showing in the concurrent National Assembly by-elections adds to the uncertainty, casting doubt on whether Jung can secure a second term as party leader.

At a press conference at the National Assembly on Thursday morning, Jung thanked voters for delivering "a great victory for the Democratic Party across the country," but acknowledged, "It is painful that we could not retake Seoul."

Many observers had tied Jung's reelection prospects directly to the party's performance in the local elections. His current term runs through August.

Toward the end of the campaign, it was frequently argued that the outcome of the North Jeolla gubernatorial race would determine whether Jung could win a second term.

Kim Kwan-young, a former Democratic Party member expelled over allegations of cash distribution who ran as an independent, repeatedly framed the contest as a battle between himself and Jung, and polls showed him running neck-and-neck with Democratic Party candidate Lee Won-taek.

In the final stretch, floor leader Han Byung-do and other party leaders poured considerable effort into securing North Jeolla votes. Lee ultimately won the governorship by a comfortable margin. The Democratic Party also claimed 11 of the remaining 15 regional government head races, achieving a commanding numerical victory overall.

Still, surrendering Seoul and other key races to the People Power Party left Jung's camp with a lingering sense of unease. One ruling-party official criticized the outcome, saying the biggest setback in the election was the "withdrawal of indictments" issue, which particularly disrupted the momentum of ruling-party candidates in Seoul and parts of the Yeongnam region.

The by-election results drew similarly mixed reviews. Of the 14 seats contested, 13 had been Democratic Party constituencies going into the vote — but the party ended up ceding Busan Buk-gap, Ulsan Nam-gap, Gyeonggi Province's Pyeongtaek-eul and South Chungcheong's Gongju-Buyeo-Cheongyang to the People Power Party, on top of Daegu Dalseong-eul, which the party had not held to begin with.

Within the Democratic Party, the narrow defeats in Busan Buk-gap — where Ha Jung-woo was the candidate — and Pyeongtaek-eul — where Kim Yong-nam ran — were described as particularly painful, given that both were multicandidate races. In Busan Buk-gap, critics say Jung sparked an early controversy with an "oppa" remark that gave independent winner Han Dong-hoon room to surge. In Pyeongtaek-eul, the party is blamed for failing to manage an overheated intra-camp rivalry, handing People Power Party winner Yoo Eui-dong a victory by default.

Open opposition to Jung within the party has also begun to surface. South Jeolla Province Gov. Kim Young-rok had voiced strong objections during the final primary for the Democratic Party's Gwangju-South Jeolla special metropolitan mayoral candidate. Immediately after polls closed Wednesday, he posted on Facebook: "From this moment, I will devote everything I have to removing him from the party leadership."


sunpine@heraldcorp.com