Kim Han-gyu: "Hardcore Supporters Basically Act Out of Affection for the Party"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is facing growing calls within the party to break ties with the hardline fandom, while Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Han-gyu said, "It is natural for supporters to express political voices."

On the 23rd, Kim said on BBS's 'Jeon Young-shin's Morning Journal', "When you listen to these voices, I think it is basically an act done out of affection for the party."

Democratic Party of Korea Floor Spokesperson Kim Han-gyu. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

He added, "Of course, it doesn't mean that excessive profanity or slander is acceptable, but basically, since this is our party's issue and the affiliated lawmakers and supporters can resolve it, I ask outsiders to leave it to the party, and we will try to resolve it internally little by little."

He noted that some problems have grown bigger as issues that should have been resolved within the party have leaked outside. Kim said, "Recently, these issues have been repeatedly introduced in the media, and in that process, conflicts between some lawmakers and supporters have been excessively highlighted, which then re-enters the party and gets amplified, and people become more provoked by certain lawmakers' remarks reported in the media."

He said, "There are active and passionate supporters, and while they may visit offices or homes to hold picket protests or use profanity to the extent of receiving disciplinary action, it is not to the extent that lawmakers would refuse to endure such strong criticism or condemnation," adding, "If the level of excessiveness that we absolutely cannot tolerate arises, I believe the party can firmly respond and we can resolve it."

Kim said, "Many lawmakers come and strongly emphasize negative aspects of this issue, but those people might be receiving more criticism or blame than others," while adding, "It would be distressing if it is behavior deserving of criticism, but if there are differing opinions, we should listen and resolve them. Politicians saying 'Don't talk about it, I'll handle it myself' is not the right attitude."

In response to a host's question whether the pro-Lee (친명, Chinmyeong) faction's call to abolish the delegate system might actually empower the hardline fandom, Kim said, "Personally, rather than abolishing the delegate system, I think it would be better to remove the weighting given to delegates during the party convention and simplify it to two groups: general party members and the general public," adding, "Since the party convention is scheduled for next August, the atmosphere is that this should be discussed."

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