Lee Jae-myung: "I Have No Connection with the Future Minjoo Party"

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, clarified that he has no connection whatsoever to the recently surfaced allegations linking him to the Future Democratic Party (leader Cheon Se-gyeong). Regarding the establishment of the proportional representation coalition party, he stated that although he initially opposed it, he respects it as a party member since it was decided as the official party stance of the Democratic Party of Korea.

On the 20th, Lee said on Facebook, "There are reports in some quarters about my alleged connection with the Future Democratic Party, causing misunderstandings and criticism. To be clear, the Future Democratic Party is unrelated to me, and I do not even know about it," drawing a clear line.

He added, "I opposed responding to trickery (the United Future Party creating the Future Korea Party as a satellite party for proportional representation) with trickery (the Democratic Party of Korea creating the proportional representation coalition party as a satellite party) because it would deny the level of civic awareness and collective intelligence of the people, which is not the right path, and I judged it would provoke collective intelligence’s resentment, resulting in losing more than gaining. As a member of the Democratic Party, I expressed my opposition for the party, and my stance has not changed," he said.

However, Lee emphasized, "Since the party stance (of the Democratic Party) has been decided, I will gladly follow and respect the party stance as a party member. Actions against the party stance decided through voting and discussion undermine the party’s democracy and order," he stressed.

Furthermore, he stated, "It is unreasonable to act against the party stance oneself and then demand other party members with differing opinions not to act against it. As a public official, I should not engage in actions that directly influence elections, but it is also undesirable to neglect the use of my name in elections, so I reluctantly clarify the allegations linking me to a specific party," he said.

Earlier, related allegations surfaced as some figures from Lee’s camp, who lost in the Democratic Party of Korea’s preliminary primary ahead of the April general election, were expected to join the Future Democratic Party.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.