Song Young-gil to visit Roh Moo-hyun tomb, former President Moon on Thursday; Kim Yong-min calls Prime Minister Kim Min-seok a 'failing grade'
By Joo So-hyun, The Herald Business
Contenders for the Democratic Party of Korea's next leadership are stepping into the spotlight as incumbent party leader Jung Chung-rae faces mounting pressure to resign or abandon a bid for a second term. Rep. Song Young-gil, who returned to the National Assembly through a recent by-election, is set to pay his respects at the tomb of former President Roh Moo-hyun and call on former President Moon Jae-in. Rep. Kim Yong-min, meanwhile, signaled his intention to run for party leader by criticizing both Prime Minister Kim Min-seok — a leading contender for the post — and Jung himself.
Song is scheduled to visit the Roh Moo-hyun burial site at Bongha Village in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, on Thursday before traveling to Pyeongsan Village in Yangsan, also in South Gyeongsang Province, to meet Moon. Song previously visited Bongha Village when he ran in a party leadership primary during the Moon administration.
Political observers interpret the visit as a sign that Song has made up his mind to contest the party leadership convention set for August. In a phone interview Monday, Song said the trip was a matter of courtesy now that he had become the Assembly member with the most terms served. "I also met former Prime Minister Jeong Se-gyun, former Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang and Jeong Dae-cheol, chairman of the Korea Constitutional Government Association," he said, adding, "The party must be united."
Kim Yong-min also made his potential candidacy official Monday, saying, "It is true that I am giving it serious thought." The remarks came a day after he posted an essay titled "The Role of the Party Leader" on his Facebook page, laying out the dismantling of insurrection legacies and sweeping social reform as key tasks — a move widely read as a declaration of intent.
Appearing on MBC Radio, Kim said Prime Minister Kim Min-seok deserved a failing grade on two counts. "He failed to take the lead from the most responsible position when it came to prosecutorial reform," Kim said. "Ultimately, it was people like me in the party who had to draw a line in the sand and barely managed to produce the current revised bill."
Kim was equally critical of Jung Chung-rae. "Jung deserves the same assessment," he said. "He will not be able to confidently answer whether the tasks I just described were sufficiently carried out during his one year in office." On prosecutorial reform specifically, Kim said the Criminal Procedure Act should have been wrapped up before the local elections, warning that the volume of remaining debate over the act now risked derailing the planned October launch of the new prosecution office.
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