Innovation Committee's 'Voluntary Retirement' Request... Opposition from Old Guard Members of the Opposition Party

The Innovation Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea is demanding the retirement of lawmakers with three or more terms, so-called 'Old Boys,' in next year's general election, sparking growing opposition within the party. Former National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won, who was named by the Innovation Committee, criticized the committee for doing 'more harm than good,' while voices from the Non-Myeong faction called it a "deception of the public."

On the 14th, former NIS Director Park said on YTN's 'News King Park Ji-hoon' that "The Innovation Committee has done something more harmful than good, throwing out an issue to cover up their own family matters, then 'chirping' and dying down, causing this turmoil." He added, "The election is eight months away, and the nomination is seven months away. Now, they say they will replace incumbent lawmakers? What about senior lawmakers? There is no problem, just leave them be."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 10th, the Innovation Committee called for the retirement of former and current multi-term lawmakers considered 'Old Boys,' announced nomination rules unfavorable to incumbent lawmakers, and proposed an innovation plan to abolish delegate voting rights at the party convention. Innovation Committee member Seo Bok-kyung even named former NIS Director Park and former lawmaker Chun Jung-bae, asking them to retire.

However, former NIS Director Park did not relent in running for his hometown district of Haenam, Wando, and Jindo. He said, "I am running (in the general election). I visited my hometown Haenam and Wando last weekend," adding, "The election is my candidacy, and the decision on nomination is made by the nomination screening committee, not the Innovation Committee." Former lawmaker Chun, also named by the Innovation Committee, emphasized his intention to run through a statement, saying, "We need to examine whether the central political circle has repeatedly replaced multi-term politicians from Gwangju, preventing the emergence of great politicians."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee Sang-min, a five-term lawmaker from the Non-Myeong faction, said on KBS's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs' that "Recruiting young generations or dealing with multi-term lawmakers as if for cosmetic purposes to lead reform is actually a deception of the public," adding, "This has been done a lot so far. It is better to leave it to the judgment of voters, and natural moral screening will filter them out."

He also pointed out that the problems facing the Democratic Party are not limited to multi-term lawmakers. Lee said, "Even looking at general moral degradation, the problem is not only with multi-term lawmakers. There were money envelope scandals and coin scandals among first-term lawmakers, and there were blindly following types regardless of term," adding, "If the innovation plan is used just to attack opposition or critics, or as a deception to the public, it will hardly gain public support."

There is also opposition, mainly from the Non-Myeong faction, to the Innovation Committee's proposal to abolish the delegate system. Jeon Hae-cheol, a pro-Moon Jae-in lawmaker leading the Democratic Party's 'Democracy 4.0' group, said on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show' that "It is logically very difficult to say that the root cause of the money envelope scandal lies in the delegate system," adding, "Especially regarding the delegates' authority, there is enough time to discuss how to recognize, transfer, or reduce delegates' shares and powers ahead of the party convention in August next year, so there is no need to discuss it now."

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