Democratic Party of Korea leadership candidates made their pitches to Honam voters Saturday at a joint campaign rally widely seen as the most pivotal battleground in the party's primary election, each leading with the legacy of former President Kim Dae-jung.
Jung Chung-rae, Song Young-gil and Kim Min-seok — speaking in that order — addressed the joint rally at the Naju General Sports Park multipurpose gymnasium in Naju, South Jeolla Province. According to the integrated Gwangju-South Jeolla provincial party chapter, the Honam region accounts for roughly 35 percent of the party's total voting membership.
All three candidates emphasized their personal ties to the Honam region as they sought to win over voters.
Kim said he had spent three years in prison over his involvement in the May 18 Gwangju pro-democracy uprising, calling Gwangju "my soul and my pride." He also invoked the traditional saying "Without Honam, there is no nation," reframing it for the present: "In the era of Lee Jae Myung, it means without Honam there is no AI, no new leap forward, and no advanced Korea."
"The AI mega-project for Honam is Lee Jae Myung's dream, Honam's dream, and Kim Min-seok's dream," he said. "I will stake everything on making it succeed."
Jung introduced himself as "a son-in-law of Honam," noting that his wife's family is from Gangjin in South Jeolla Province.
"It was thanks to President Kim Dae-jung's painful perseverance that South Korea was able to walk upright, and it was thanks to the internet infrastructure he laid that South Korea became an internet powerhouse," Jung said. "Gwangju will go beyond being the sacred ground of democratization to become a vanguard of AI power and a semiconductor cluster."
He pledged to transform South Korea from an internet powerhouse into an AI powerhouse, vowing to drive the Honam semiconductor cluster to success through what he called his trademark drive, breakthrough capacity and speed. "I will make Honam bloom in full," he said.
Song, a native of Goheung in South Jeolla Province, drew a contrast with Jung's son-in-law claim. "A son-in-law of Honam is fine, but shouldn't you give your strength to a son?" he said, adding that President Kim Dae-jung had recruited him into the Democratic Party as a young rising talent and that he represents the party's authentic lineage and roots.
Song also pledged to develop Naju Innovation City into a hub for nuclear fusion power generation. "I will make this place the mecca of nuclear fusion power and turn Gwangju and South Jeolla into an irreplaceable new foundation for people," he said.
Following the Gwangju-South Jeolla rally, the Democratic Party plans to hold a North Jeolla Province joint rally at Wonkwang University's culture and sports center before releasing the results of the Honam membership vote. On Sunday, the party will continue with joint rallies and a traveling primary in the Greater Seoul area.
lucky@heraldcorp.com
