[Lee Jun-seok Aftershock] People Power Party in Chaos, Complicated Calculations for Watching Democratic Party Too

Depending on the Position of Lee Jun-seok, Who Received Severe Disciplinary Action
Counterpart to Face Geoya Confirmed
Next General Election Battle Structure Formed
Prosecutors' Blade Directed at the Opposition
Concerns Over Targeted Investigations Increase

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 4th, showing a serious expression during the meeting. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] As Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the People Power Party, received a six-month suspension of party membership due to allegations of sexual bribery, the Democratic Party of Korea is busy calculating its political strategy. On the surface, they criticize the People Power Party as being complicit, but their true intentions are complex.

First, if Lee steps down, the new ruling party leadership candidates will determine the Democratic Party leadership and counterparts entering the August 28 party convention. Since they will be the opposing team competing in the 2024 general election, whether the Lee Jun-seok system remains or a new leadership takes over could shake up the political landscape.

Another variable is that the investigative authorities’ scrutiny, which began with Lee Jun-seok’s severe disciplinary action, could turn toward the Democratic Party. With investigations into the previous administration intensifying, triggered by incidents such as the shooting of government officials in the West Sea and involving the National Intelligence Service, opposition party lawmakers are increasingly anxious about targeted prosecution by the prosecution.

Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 6th and delivering an opening remark. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Official Position: “People Power Party Must Also Take Responsibility”

For now, the official stance from the Democratic Party, expressed through party spokesperson and lawmaker Shin Hyun-young, is that “not only the severely disciplined Lee Jun-seok but also the People Power Party, which avoided making key judgments, must sincerely apologize to the public.” They demanded a responsible apology from the People Power Party itself, triggered by Lee’s disciplinary action. The Democratic Party evaluated that “throughout the entire process leading to the severe disciplinary action, the ruling party’s responsibility and duty to the people were thoroughly neglected, and apart from Lee’s disciplinary action, the People Power Party is also complicit in this incident.”

This is interpreted as the Democratic Party, which had faced multiple attacks inside and outside the party due to successive sexual misconduct issues, launching a counterattack using the Lee Jun-seok case as an opportunity. Despite incidents involving Park Won-soon, Oh Keo-don, and Ahn Hee-jung, the Democratic Party also faced sexual misconduct scandals, including the case of lawmaker Choi Kang-wook, who received a six-month suspension of party membership, and lawmaker Park Wan-joo, who was expelled from the party due to sexual misconduct allegations.

Allegations of Secret Pact for Ahn Cheol-soo’s Unification

From a political standpoint, there is also an interpretation that this is a “preparatory move for Ahn Cheol-soo’s takeover of party leadership.”

Woo Sang-ho, the Democratic Party’s emergency committee chairman, publicly raised the “secret pact for unification with Ahn Cheol-soo.” On the 8th, in a radio interview, Woo said, “I strongly suspect that from the time when candidate Yoon Seok-youl and candidate Ahn Cheol-soo unified, there was a secret pact that ‘Ahn would be made responsible for the party.’” He added, “I suspect that as part of that, Lee Jun-seok, who was a thorn in their side, was ousted using this issue as a pretext.”

Woo’s interpretation is that Ahn, who contributed to the unification during the presidential election, received conditions to take over party leadership. Lee Jun-seok had shown discord with Ahn within the People Power Party. Woo said in the radio interview, “Even after facilitating unification, Ahn couldn’t get even one of his people appointed as a minister, so I judged that it was not a joint government participation but rather the party’s side.” He especially added, “I cannot judge the essence of the issue, but I read political intentions in the timing.”

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lingering Anxiety Over Prosecution Investigations

Within the Democratic Party, there is also a sense of anxiety about prosecution investigations. This is not only about the sexual bribery allegations against Lee Jun-seok but also because the Yoon Seok-youl administration has begun a full-scale purge targeting power institutions such as the National Intelligence Service, prosecution, police, and Board of Audit and Inspection. The next targets could be opposition politicians.

In fact, recently, based on its own investigation, the National Intelligence Service filed complaints against former director Park Jie-won and others for unauthorized deletion of intelligence-related reports concerning the West Sea government official shooting incident. The police are investigating allegations involving Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Jae-myung, including the 'illegal fundraising for Seongnam FC' and 'special favors in Baekhyeon-dong development.' The Democratic Party strongly criticizes these as “political retaliation” and has announced it will respond through internal committees such as the Political Retaliation Investigation Countermeasures Committee.

A first-term Democratic Party lawmaker with a legal background said, “In the current administration, investigations will focus more on former President Moon Jae-in and lawmaker Lee Jae-myung than on companies, so there’s even a joke that lawyer fees won’t be as high as during the previous administration,” adding, “Many Democratic Party lawmakers are anxious about being targeted in investigations.”

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