Ruling Party Reunites After a While... Excluding 'Stealth' Lee Nak-yeon...

Ahead of the Public Administration Committee Hearing
Song Young-gil, Yoon Ho-jung, Baek Hye-ryun, and Others Launch All-Out Effort to Defend Lee Jae-myung

Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and the Supreme Council members attended the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 18th. Before the meeting began, they were seen conversing while looking at a backdrop containing content criticizing the inadequate investigation of the Busan Savings Bank in relation to the Daejang-dong scandal. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] The Democratic Party of Korea, which held the ‘Myeong-Nak (Lee Jae-myung·Lee Nak-yeon) showdown’ during the presidential candidate selection process, united as one team on the 18th to defend presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung (current Governor of Gyeonggi Province) who appeared at the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee’s audit. However, former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon, still suffering from the aftereffects of the primary, remains silent without expressing any stance on candidate Lee.

The Democratic Party even changed the ‘backdrop’ that displays the party’s key messages on the wall. On this day, the backdrop hung in the party leader’s meeting room was changed to phrases such as “Candidate Yoon Seok-yeol, what happened to the Daejang-dong fund investigation?” and “1,155 billion won from Busan Savings Bank, which caused tears of the common people, flowed into Daejang-dong.” This move aims to defend candidate Lee from the ‘Daejang-dong suspicion’ and turn the situation into a People Power Party gate.

Party leader Song Young-gil said at the morning Supreme Council meeting, “The media reported the fact that the mayor of Seongnam approved documents as if it were a great scoop, making it seem like the mayor approved something wrong. I think this distorted editing can be corrected through this audit.” Floor leader Yoon Ho-jung also raised his voice, saying, “You will see the bottom of the People Power Party at the Public Administration and Security Committee audit.” Leader Yoon turned his arrows toward former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, saying, “If it’s a place where candidate Lee stayed, they will even search the bathroom. They try to link candidate Lee under the pretext of being an aide, but unlike former Prosecutor General Yoon, candidate Lee had no interest in forming a corrupt family.”

Supreme Council member Baek Hye-ryun, who is attending the Public Administration and Security Committee audit, expressed her determination in a radio interview on the same day, saying, “We will block attempts to forcibly fit candidate Lee into the evidence currently revealed and firmly respond to political attacks with clear grounds and logic.”

While the Democratic Party is pooling its strength to fully defend candidate Lee, former leader Lee Nak-yeon’s side is showing no particular movement, creating a contrast. Whether candidate Lee and the party leadership can win over his heart and confront the Daejang-dong suspicion as a complete one team is emerging as a key issue in the upcoming presidential election phase. In a radio interview on the same day, when asked if candidate Lee is planning to visit former leader Lee Nak-yeon directly, party leader Song replied, “Yes. I also plan to visit him soon. I think having a glass of Makgeolli together might help ease things between them.”

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