Jung Chung-rae leads DP primary

[Anchor]

Now, we turn to news from the political arena.

Today (July 19) marked the first day of the Democratic Party's primary election to select a new party leader.

Due to the nationwide flood impact, the election was held online, and candidate Jung Chung-rae successfully took an early lead.

We will report on how the situation will unfold from here, followed by news of the People Power Party's visit to the flood-affected areas.

Kim Min-hyuk reports.

[Report]

The regional primary election to elect a new leader of the Democratic Party has started in the Chungcheong region.

[Jung Chung-rae/Democratic Party leader candidate: "I will handle the fight, so President Lee Jae Myung, please focus on your work. I will take care of the tough tasks and the battles."]

[Park Chan-dae/Democratic Party leader candidate: "The party leader for the first year of the Lee Jae Myung administration must be different. They must be competent in every aspect."]

The result was a comfortable victory for candidate Jung Chung-rae.

In the voting held today among party members in the Chungcheong region, candidate Jung received over 62%, leading his competitor Park Chan-dae by more than 20 percentage points.

Both candidates promised cooperation with President Lee Jae Myung and rapid reforms, but it appears that candidate Jung, who emphasized a 'fighter' image, has secured a solid advantage in the party's sentiment.

Considering the damage from the heavy rain, the Democratic Party has decided to switch all events scheduled for this weekend in various regions to online formats.

The leadership of the People Power Party visited the flood-affected area in Yesan, Chungnam, along with young party members.

They removed water-damaged items and organized the fields that were swept away by the heavy rain.

Following yesterday's actions, they proposed to the government to declare the flood-affected areas as special disaster zones.

Additionally, they stated that they had agreed to the appointment of the ministerial candidate for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, which is responsible for disaster management, considering the heavy rain situation.

[Song Eon-seog/Chairman of the Emergency Response Committee and Floor Leader of the People Power Party: "The damage from the heavy rain is so severe that yesterday we agreed to adopt the report despite various issues, and it was passed by consensus."]

Meanwhile, the People Power Party has once again urged the withdrawal of nominations for candidates Kang Sun-woo from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and Lee Jin-sook from the Ministry of Education.

Democratic Party lawmaker Kang Deuk-gu stated that it may appear arrogant to the public, and publicly demanded the resignation of candidate Lee Jin-sook, following fellow party member Kim Sang-wook.

KBS News, Kim Min-hyuk.