Jo Eung-cheon "Lee Jae-myung Must Show Firm Attitude to Hardline Supporters"

Jo Eung-cheon, SBS Radio Interview
"We Must Stop the 'Bangtan Party'... Party Position Restructuring Needed"

As the strong supporters of the Democratic Party of Korea are expressing their protests through coordinate targeting and text bombings against the 'Bimyeong faction' (non-Lee Jae-myung faction) lawmakers, Democratic Party lawmaker Cho Eung-cheon demanded a firm stance from Lee Jae-myung, the party leader.

On the 14th, Cho appeared on SBS Radio's 'Kim Tae-hoon's Political Show' and said, "Telling (the strong supporters) to 'refrain' is not helpful," adding, "(Leader Lee) needs to show a firm attitude, such as 'I will break ties,' for (the strong supporters) to exercise restraint."

Cho Eung-cheon, Democratic Party of Korea member. Photo by Yonhap News

Cho also mentioned the possibility of Lee stepping down from the party leadership. He said, "Previous senior leaders sacrificed themselves first for the party when it faced a critical crisis," adding, "After losing the presidential election, Song Young-gil resigned taking responsibility, and Moon Jae-in stepped down as the party was in great difficulty."

Cho emphasized the need to prevent the Democratic Party from being perceived as a 'Lee Jae-myung shield party' and stressed that a reorganization of party positions is necessary. He said, "Even if the elected leadership is unavoidable, the appointed positions are overwhelmingly (pro-Lee Jae-myung) and appear to be focused on shielding him, so the appointed leadership should be replaced."

Regarding claims that he is criticizing Lee while aiming for nomination in the next general election, Cho refuted, saying, "It is completely unrelated," and added, "If one is thinking about nomination, it is much more advantageous to conform to the Lee Jae-myung regime and be favored by Gaeddal (Gaehyeok-ui Ddal, Lee’s strong supporters)."

On the death of Lee’s first secretary during his time as governor of Gyeonggi Province, Cho mentioned issues with the prosecution’s investigation but also conveyed, "There is a sentiment (within the party) that blaming only the prosecution is somewhat problematic."

He said, "Most members of the Democratic Party agree that the prosecution’s investigation, which in many ways resembles an Indian rainmaking ritual and involves unrelated investigations, has significant problems," adding, "(However) before assigning blame, in the face of the grave reality that a precious life was taken by oneself, it is proper to first confess one’s own shortcomings and apologize."

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