Myeongnak Meeting Postponed Again... Innovation Committee Tweaks 'Gongcheon Rules'

Amid factional conflicts between the Pro-Myeong (親明) and Anti-Myeong (非明) groups causing turmoil within the Democratic Party, the party's Innovation Committee has hinted at revising the candidate nomination rules confirmed last May, signaling a deepening of factional strife. The Pro-Myeong faction outside the National Assembly has sided with the Innovation Committee, demanding changes to the nomination rules, while the Anti-Myeong faction is expressing dissatisfaction with the committee's postponement of evaluating the leadership of Representative Lee Jae-myung. Meanwhile, the meeting between Representative Lee Jae-myung and former Representative Lee Nak-yeon has been postponed again, making factional unity unlikely in the near future.

Kim Eun-kyung, chairperson of the Democratic Party Innovation Committee, leading the committee, suggested changes to the nomination rules during KBS's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs' on the 20th, saying, "There are some guidelines given by senior figures in civil society. Although those guidelines are not very detailed politically, it would be good to consider them and look at the overall picture," indicating a possible revision of the nomination rules.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Changing the nomination rules ahead of the general election is a sensitive issue that could further intensify conflicts between factions and among candidates. There are widespread speculations that the "ban on exceeding three consecutive terms in the same electoral district" could become the third innovation proposal. The Pro-Myeong faction outside the National Assembly, organized as the 'Democratic Party National Innovation Council' (hereafter, the Innovation Council), has also presented ten major candidate nomination reform proposals including this point. Chairperson Kim commented on the Innovation Council's proposal, saying, "That proposal could be one of the suggestions," and added, "Many people say some turnover is necessary. Also, personnel renewal is extremely important. Since such opinions are being expressed, I think it is understandable to approach this issue from that perspective."

While the Pro-Myeong faction supports the Innovation Committee's move to change the nomination rules, the Anti-Myeong faction is voicing dissatisfaction with the committee's actions. Anti-Myeong lawmaker Lee Won-wook said on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show', "If there is a fair evaluation showing that losing the presidential election, losing the local elections, and stagnant approval ratings are due to exceeding three terms, I would accept that," but expressed skepticism, saying, "However, is it really the right direction for innovation to pre-judge the nomination issue six months ahead and conduct a witch hunt?"

He also criticized the Innovation Council's 'innovation proposal', stating, "Is it really that exceeding three terms is bad and first-term lawmakers are good? Proper evaluations and criteria need to be established."

Criticism is also emerging from the Anti-Myeong faction regarding the Innovation Committee's attempt to innovate without evaluating the Lee Jae-myung leadership. Yoon Young-chan, a Democratic Party lawmaker aligned with the Pro-Lee Nak-yeon faction, said on MBC's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus', "When people say, 'Isn't this an Innovation Committee to protect Lee Jae-myung?' and the response is 'That's not wrong,' then the Innovation Committee has nothing to innovate," adding, "It seems the Innovation Committee is losing its way." This was a critique of Innovation Committee member Seo Bok-kyung's earlier comment on SBS Radio that the label 'Innovation Committee protecting Lee Jae-myung' was "not an incorrect thought."

Yoon said, "The word 'innovation' means changing everything and renewing it, but our Innovation Committee has drawn a line saying the Lee Jae-myung leadership is not subject to evaluation," adding, "If they say they will not touch the current Lee Jae-myung leadership, it's like closing the door and trying to find a path."

Meanwhile, the meeting between former Representative Lee Nak-yeon and Representative Lee Jae-myung, known as the 'Myeong-Nak meeting', which was expected to serve as an opportunity to ease factional conflicts, has been postponed once again, drawing attention to the reasons behind it. Officially, the reason given was 'flood recovery,' but the party's extreme factional tensions appear to be a significant factor. Ha Tae-kyung, a lawmaker from the People Power Party, said on KBS's 'Joo Jin-woo Live', "It seems they don't want to meet. They probably think the meeting won't help with flood recovery and will only involve unhelpful discussions," adding, "It seems they have different thoughts and have judged that they are not in a position to share the most important current issues even if they meet."

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