Prime Minister Kim Min-seok speaks at the 2nd ‘3+α(alpha)’ meeting held on the 2nd at the prime minister’s residence in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Seong Dong-hun, reporter

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, addressing speculation about a run for Seoul mayor and a bid for the next leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said, “For now, I am simply committed to the work I have been entrusted with.”

On the 5th, on MBC Radio, when the host asked, ‘There are rumors you may be a candidate for Seoul mayor. Do you have ambitions?’, he said, “The post of Seoul mayor is one I even ran for when I was relatively young, and it is a very meaningful and honorable public office.”

He said, “But regardless of that, I have work I am doing now. Therefore, this is not a matter of freely hoping for something on my part, and I do not expect circumstances will arise in which I am drafted into it.”

Asked, ‘How do you view declaring a run for party leader?’, he replied, “It is the same. It is not something I can decide on my own,” adding, “I have duties I have taken on, and basically there is still a long way to go before it has even been one year since I took the post of prime minister.”

He added, “Also, fundamentally, it is a position with an appointing authority, and on that point I simply think that ‘the best course is to be faithful to what I have been entrusted with during my term.’”