'Is Pro-Myeong Really True?'…Democratic Party Innovation Committee Faces Growing Suspicion's 'Gaze'

Criticism of Pro-Myung Faction Dominance
Pro-Myung Core Kim Young-jin Refutes "I Don't Know a Single Person"
Voices on Presidential and Local Election Evaluations Also Emerge

There continue to be internal doubts within the Democratic Party of Korea regarding the Kim Eun-kyung Innovation Committee, which is responsible for the party's reform. The key issue is whether the Innovation Committee will wield its power against Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party.

Kim Young-jin, a Democratic Party lawmaker who serves as Chief of Staff to Leader Lee, appeared on YTN Radio's "News King Park Ji-hoon" on the 21st and denied the criticism that many members of the Innovation Committee are pro-Lee figures. Kim said, "I am a core member of the pro-Lee faction, but I do not know a single person on the committee," adding, "People who have come are those who can diagnose the problems of the Democratic Party with the most expert insight from politics, economics, academia, and the media, looking at South Korea objectively." Regarding Kim Eun-kyung, chairperson of the Innovation Committee, Kim stated, "She is neither pro-Lee nor anti-Lee, neither pro-Moon nor anti-Moon, so she holds a very firm stance on how the Democratic Party should change from the perspective of the public, public sympathy, and party members."

Song Gap-seok, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party who has voiced strong opinions in the past, also expressed that there is no problem with the Innovation Committee's appointments. Song appeared on SBS Radio's "Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show" on the same day and said, "It is true that about two members of the Innovation Committee declared support for Leader Lee during his presidential candidacy," but added, "That seems to be just because of their Democratic Party support tendencies. It did not appear that they exclusively support Leader Lee or any other candidate or key figure in our party."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Kim Eun-kyung, chairperson of the party's Innovation Committee, are attending the first meeting of the Democratic Party Innovation Committee held at the National Assembly on the 20th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The day before, Chairperson Kim also stated at the first meeting of the Innovation Committee, "She is someone with no debts to the political world. Naturally, she is neither pro-Lee, anti-Lee, pro-Moon, nor anti-Moon," and added, "She has no interest whatsoever in factional interests, demands from some hardcore party members, or the interests of incumbent lawmakers who have become vested powers."

However, opinions were divided over the Innovation Committee's decision to first address the money envelope scandal related to the party convention. Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Won-wook said on social media (SNS) that "We need to find the reason why the Democratic Party's approval rating has not risen despite the successive failures of the Yoon Seok-youl government," and argued, "An evaluation of the presidential and local elections should come first." Lee stated, "The Democratic Party has lost two nationwide elections but still has not properly evaluated them." He also said, "We need to evaluate the upcoming one-year mark of Leader Lee Jae-myung's administration." Lee added, "Only with an accurate evaluation can reform tasks gain effectiveness."

In fact, voices within the Democratic Party calling for a proper reckoning of responsibility for the last presidential and local elections have been persistently raised since last year. Democratic Party lawmaker Cho Eung-cheon said on YTN Radio the day before, "If there is an evaluation of the presidential and local election defeats, an evaluation of the current leadership's one year, and a thorough reflection on these, then such criticisms (that the Innovation Committee is a special unit for the leadership) would not arise." The litmus test of the Innovation Committee's will to reform lies in holding accountable those responsible for the consecutive election defeats.

On the other hand, there are also opinions that choosing to focus on the money envelope scandal at the party convention was the right decision. Democratic Party lawmaker Woo Won-shik said on BBS Radio's "Jeon Young-shin's Morning Journal," "The money envelope incident was the very first spark for forming the Innovation Committee," and added, "The morality of the Democratic Party is a fundamental issue of the party, so I think it must be addressed very clearly."

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