The Kim Nam-guk Incident Shaking Even Lee Jae-myung... Will the Ethics Committee Filing Put Out the Fire?

The fallout from Representative Kim Nam-guk, who left the Democratic Party amid suspicions of multi-billion won cryptocurrency transactions, is also shaking the 'leadership' of Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung. The reason is that he is seen as being overly lenient toward his close aide, Representative Kim. While the ruling party is launching an offensive, saying "the mastermind behind Representative Kim is Leader Lee," voices within the party are growing louder, calling for Leader Lee to break away from his close-knit group 'Cheoreomhwe' and fandom politics. The decision to file a complaint against Representative Kim with the 'Ethics Committee' on this day also appears to have been influenced by this background.

On the morning of the 17th, the Democratic Party decided to file a complaint against Representative Kim with the National Assembly Ethics Committee. Park Sung-jun, the Democratic Party spokesperson, told reporters after the party's expanded executive meeting held at the National Assembly that the leadership, including Leader Lee, made this decision. Until the day before, the Democratic Party had shown a passive stance toward filing a complaint with the National Assembly Ethics Committee, but the change in position is interpreted as taking into account the critical public opinion toward Leader Lee and the party leadership.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Former Emergency Committee member of the Democratic Party, Park Ji-hyun, said on YTN's 'News King Park Ji-hoon' that "To overcome the currently shaken leadership, Leader Lee must show a complete break from fandom politics, double standards (naeronambul: 'If I do it, it's romance; if others do it, it's an affair'), and leniency," adding, "One of the most urgent things Leader Lee can do, even if it seems trivial, is to withdraw from 'Jaemyeong's Village'."

The Democratic Party is divided into 'pro-Lee' and 'anti-Lee' factions over Representative Kim's departure. Pro-Lee lawmakers and fervent fandoms defend Representative Kim and send donations, while the anti-Lee faction criticizes both Representative Kim and the leadership's response. Former Emergency Committee member Park pointed out that Leader Lee's leadership is necessary to reconcile this division.

Park also called for the disbandment of the pro-Lee faction group 'Cheoreomhwe' within the party through social media the day before. He said, "Leaving the Democratic Party as it is now is, in my view, a sin before history," adding, "Cheoreomhwe, which listens to and acts on the voices of the hardline supporters, and the YouTubers colluding with them are ruining the democracy of the Democratic Party."

Criticism from the ruling party linking the Representative Kim incident to Leader Lee is also continuing. Jang Ye-chan, the Youth Supreme Council member of the People Power Party, appeared on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' holding a so-called 'Deobureo Lizard' image panel, which depicts Leader Lee as the lizard's head, and Representative Kim, former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil, and former Democratic Party member Yoon Mi-hyang who left the party as the tail. He emphasized, "The reason why the Ethics Committee complaint is not being filed and why time is being dragged out is ultimately because the body of this lizard, as shown in this picture, is Leader Lee."

People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Sang-beom also pointed out on BBS's 'Jeon Young-shin's Morning Journal' that the Democratic Party's effective opposition to the joint disciplinary proposal against Representative Kim by both ruling and opposition parties was due to Leader Lee's attitude. Yoo said, "Yesterday, a joint disciplinary proposal was suggested by both ruling and opposition parties, but the Democratic Party showed an effective opposition stance, saying 'the party's internal fact-finding committee will continue to investigate,' regarding the joint disciplinary proposal," adding, "This stance came because of the attitude shown by Leader Lee."

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