Pro-Lee Jae-myung Faction Draws Line on Calls for Lee's Resignation: "Not Much Help"

Kim Young-jin "Are you doing politics with the subjunctive mood?"
Park Joo-min "Such talk is not desirable right now"

Kim Young-jin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea classified as part of the 'Pro-Myeong (親明) faction,' drew a line on the 'Lee Jae-myung resignation theory' raised mainly by some party members, saying, "Discussing this now is not very helpful."

On the 15th, during SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' when asked by the host whether the Pro-Myeong faction proposed an orderly resignation around the end of the year, Kim said, "Talking about such things now is hypothetical, and in my view, it is quite difficult and inappropriate to engage in politics based on hypotheticals."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the launch ceremony of the Countermeasure Committee against Humiliating Diplomacy toward Japan held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 13th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

This is interpreted as a dismissal of some reports suggesting that an 'orderly resignation' of Representative Lee would take place around the end of the year, centered on the Pro-Myeong faction. He said, "What matters is how we proceed given the current situation" and added, "It is necessary to have a clear direction and guidelines on how the opposition party will respond to the people and livelihood issues, rather than discussing various paths for the opposition leader. In my view, discussing such matters is somewhat a blind spot in Yeouido politics."

However, there are also criticisms that most of the Democratic Party's actions are overshadowed by 'Lee Jae-myung's judicial risks.' In response, Kim said, "Excessively discussing whether Representative Lee should step down or not does not seem very helpful," and continued, "We need to focus on how to respond to issues such as the bankruptcy of the U.S. Silicon Valley Bank and how such problems will affect South Korea's economy, finance, and exchange rates. This is what the public needs."

He added, "In my view, there is too much focus on personal issues related to Representative Lee," and said, "There are many voices questioning whether it is appropriate in 21st-century South Korea to be dealing with matters like ancestral graves in this way."

Democratic Party lawmaker Park Joo-min also commented on the 'orderly resignation theory' on YTN's 'News King Park Ji-hoon,' saying, "I understand that the floor leader has been meeting various lawmakers individually or in groups since the vote on the arrest motion, and during that process, some lawmakers have been sharing various opinions," and added, "But at least this is not being discussed in an organized manner."

Regarding Democratic Party lawmaker Go Min-jung's mention of 'late summer or early autumn' as the timing for an 'orderly resignation,' Park said, "I think it is not appropriate to talk about such things immediately, and it seems unsuitable to discuss based on such assumptions."

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