After One Year in Office, Lee Jae-myung's Score... Anti-Lee Faction Fails, Pro-Lee Faction Scores 85 Points

Jo Eung-cheon 'Failing Score' Hyun Geun-taek '85 Points'
Kim Byung-min "One Year of Judicial Risk"

The report card of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, on the occasion of his first anniversary in office is falling short of expectations. The non-Myeong faction gave him a failing grade (below passing standard), and even the pro-Myeong faction gave a somewhat disappointing score of '85 points.' As Lee’s judicial risks have become a stumbling block and Plan B options such as 'prison nomination' have rapidly emerged, calls for his resignation, mainly from the non-Myeong faction, are pouring in. The ruling party gave a harsh evaluation, calling it 'a year of judicial risks.'

On the 28th, Cho Eung-cheon, a non-Myeong Democratic Party lawmaker, said on KBS's 'Choi Kyung-young’s Strong Current Affairs,' "Rather than a specific score, it’s a failing grade. Throughout the year, he has been plagued by judicial risks, fandom politics has intensified, intra-party democracy has weakened, and our party’s morality issues have come to the forefront, solidifying the image of double standards," giving this assessment.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He added, "Looking at the government and ruling party now, they have done nothing well. Nevertheless, despite the government and ruling party’s mismanagement and own-goals, they have not gained any reflexive benefits or points from it," and criticized, "They said they would work hard on people’s livelihood and the economy, but there are no results; instead, only things like shielding, double standards, morality issues, fandom, and party factionalism remain."

Within the non-Myeong faction, voices urging Lee’s resignation have gone a step further. On the 25th, Lee Sang-min said on CBS radio, "If Lee does not decide on his position, lawmakers who disagree with him must decide on their own positions," adding, "Lee stepping down is a measure that can at least plug the hole and prevent a party split."

The pro-Myeong faction generally gave a positive evaluation but also expressed some regrets. Hyun Geun-taek, deputy director of the Democratic Research Institute and a pro-Myeong non-parliamentarian, said on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung’s News Show' the same day, "About 85 points," adding, "There were parts where something should have been done because we were the majority party, such as livelihood legislation, and party innovation was a very important task, but there were clearly parts where innovation was not properly pursued."

He explained that the judicial risks were not chosen by Lee himself. Deputy Director Hyun said, "The judicial risks and prosecution investigations were an unavoidable given situation," and added, "He was under investigation from the time he took office as party leader, is still on trial, and has summonses ahead, so it’s impossible not to prepare for that."

Pro-Myeong lawmaker Woo Won-shik said on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung’s News Show,' "The past year must have been an extremely difficult process for Lee personally," and added, "It was a difficult time, but it was a process of confirming that despite the pain of losing the government we gained through impeachment after five years, the Democratic Party can still serve as a basis to check the Yoon Seok-yeol administration."

The ruling party’s evaluation is harsh. Kim Byung-min, Supreme Council member of the People Power Party, said on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun’s Political Show,' "What the public remembers throughout the past year since his inauguration are the scenes of him being summoned to the prosecution office, going to court for trials, and even being indicted while still pleading innocence despite the judgment of guilt," and said, "It is nothing more and nothing less than a year of judicial risks, showing what judicial risks really mean."

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