Rep. Jung Chung-rae (center) leaves after announcing his intention to resign as leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea during the party's Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul on Wednesday. (Yonhap) Democratic Party of Korea Chair Jung Chung-rae has resigned from his post in apparent preparation to stand again for leadership of the party at its August convention.The four-term lawmaker announced his intention to step down at the ruling party's Supreme Council meeting Wednesday. Some speculate that the future of the government and the party — in the midst of dropping approval ratings and interfactional power struggles — could hinge on the outcome of the convention expected on Aug. 17.Jung has chaired the party since August 2025, having beaten Park Chan-dae in a vote to fill the post left vacant by Lee Jae Myung's election to president two months earlier. Park had served as floor leader during Lee's tenure as party chair.Jung said he was the right person for the party to uphold the spirit of past leaders affiliated with the party, such as former Presidents Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in, as well as the incumbent Lee Jae Myung. Democratic Party of Korea Chair Jung Chung-rae (Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald) Jung highlighted his two decades of personal ties with Lee, and his role in spearheading the move to oust former President Yoon Suk Yeol as then-head of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. Yoon was handed a life sentence in February for his imposition of martial law in December 2024."No matter what others say, I am the last person to protect President Lee," Jung said.Despite Jung having repeatedly stressed his personal ties with Lee, he has often been accused of straining ties between the party and the presidential office.Disparities have been exposed between the presidential office and the ruling party over the extent of prosecution reform and their assessment of the outcome of June's local elections, among other items.As Lee told the National Assembly that there should be minimal exceptions to the latest move to strip the prosecution of its power to investigate, Jung has pushed ahead with his stance that the prosecution's power to investigate should be removed entirely, with no exceptions. Jung also hailed the June elections as a big win, but Lee has viewed the outcome as far from successful.Discord emerged again in Wednesday's meeting of the Democratic Party's Supreme Council. Rep. Jung Chung-rae (second from left) bows to President Lee Jae Myung (right), as the president arrived at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, after his trip to Europe on June 18. (Yonhap) Rep. Kang Deuk-gu, a Lee ally, said the ruling party leadership should "engage in politics where the party reaps its political success together with the president, not politics where the party competes with the president," in a remark apparently directed at Jung.Kang added that he would not run again for a post on the Supreme Council, as he felt a sense of responsibility for the election outcome falling below expectations.In response, Rep. Moon Jeong-bog, a Democratic Party Supreme Council member close to Jung, said, "President Lee is the captain of the ship named South Korea, and Jung is the captain of the ship named the Democratic Party."According to Rep. Kang Jun-hyeon of the Democratic Party, Floor Leader Han Byung-do will serve as interim chair of the party until the next chair is elected.Later on Wednesday, Jung briefly met with former President Moon at the Seoul International Book Fair in his first public appearance since resigning as the chair. Jung told reporters he visited to buy books about former liberal leaders, adding that Moon "gave me a pat on the back" and held his hand so he could "feel (Moon's) warmth" during their meeting. Rep. Jung Chung-rae (right) and former President Moon Jae-in meet at the Seoul International Book Fair at Coex in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Wednesday. (Pool photo via Yonhap) Jung is considered one of three contenders for the two-year chairship in the upcoming convention.The others are outgoing Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, who is on a three-day trip to China, and six-term lawmaker Rep. Song Young-gil, who departed for the United States as a special envoy of National Assembly Speaker Rep. Cho Jeong-sik.No specific regulations in the Democratic Party exist as to whether a leader of the party must resign to be eligible to run for the leadership. But precedent indicates that a chair seeking to run for election, including Lee Jae Myung, should step down before the convention.