Minju Holds Heated Debate on 'Party Innovation' at General Assembly... Urgent Calls for "Present a Reform Blueprint"

"Hostility and Attacks Beyond Limits, Party's Active Response"
Faction Debate Over 'Abolition of Delegate System'

Democratic Party lawmakers held a party caucus meeting to discuss the direction of party reform. At the meeting, various demands for innovation within the party following lawmaker Kim Nam-guk's virtual asset investment allegations were raised as agenda items. During the process, attacks from party members against some lawmakers and young politicians continued, prompting opinions that leadership-level measures are necessary.

Lee So-young, the Democratic Party floor spokesperson, told reporters immediately after the party's closed caucus on the 25th, "Recently, our party's young politicians and university committee heads from various city and provincial party branches held a press conference demanding party reform," adding, "It has been reported that those young politicians and university committee heads who held the press conference faced excessive hostility and attacks."

She continued, "Today, there was a proposal that our lawmakers and the party need to take an active stance on these issues, and many lawmakers expressed agreement," saying, "We all recognized and acknowledged that acts of oppression against differing opinions harm the Democratic Party."

On the 25th, at the Democratic Party of Korea's caucus held in the National Assembly, members are performing the national ceremony. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

At the caucus, it was reported that Hong Young-pyo, a non-Lee Jae-myung faction (non-Lee faction) lawmaker, made such a free speech. Regarding the recent controversy where Lee Won-wook, also from the non-Lee faction, reportedly received 'abusive text messages' from hardline party members, the spokesperson said, "There was an opinion that violent expressions or oppressive behavior toward those with differing views should be properly checked and, if necessary, disciplined through the ethics committee."

Additionally, it was reported that a discussion took place regarding the demand to abolish the delegate system raised on the party's internal petition site. Regarding this, lawmaker Kim Jong-min told reporters, "While there is agreement that the current operation of the delegate system has problems, the delegate system is fundamentally the foundation of the Democratic Party. Abolishing it is not acceptable; instead, the issues should be improved."

Kim added, "We need to move toward a democratic delegate system," and said, "(Delegates) are first elected by party members, and among registered party members with over five years of membership who meet the requirements, there are enough people capable of fulfilling responsible representative roles as delegates."

Opinions on abolishing the delegate system were divided along faction lines. At the caucus, Jeong Cheong-rae, from the pro-Lee Jae-myung faction, advocated for abolishing the delegate system, while Kim Yong-min argued for improving the voting reflection ratio.

There were also criticisms that the party leadership should present a concrete blueprint for the promised reforms. Park Yong-jin, from the non-Lee faction, told reporters, "Isn't it time for answers after the reform caucus (resolution)? Why is there no discussion?" adding, "Why are we needlessly debating the delegate system at today's caucus? That is not the essence of the matter," he explained.

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