Lee Won-wook "Watermelon Sweetness 4 Is Disappointing... The Higher the Sweetness, the More Loved the Lawmaker"

Democratic Party Rep. Lee Won-wook BBS Radio Interview
"Shift in Severe Disciplinary Atmosphere... Likely Due to Positive Election Outlook"

Amid calls to discipline the non-Lee Jae-myung faction (anti-Lee Jae-myung) regarding the vote on the arrest consent bill for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, Rep. Lee Won-wook said, "If it had been rejected, it would have been a very big negative factor in the upcoming by-election for the mayor of Gangseo District, Seoul."

On the 11th, Rep. Lee appeared on BBS Radio's 'Jeon Young-shin's Morning Journal' and said, "Lee Jae-myung promised to waive parliamentary immunity during the negotiation group leader's speech, and it was also the first agenda item of Kim Eun-kyung's Innovation Committee," adding, "The waiver of the arrest consent bill was also approved at the party meeting, so asking for its rejection without keeping these promises is actually the problematic act."

Lee Won-wook, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Rep. Lee noted that the Democratic Party leadership's stance, which had recently been tough on so-called 'pro-approval vote members,' is now changing. He said, "Jeong Cheong-rae's remarks have started to change," adding, "He was a member who previously said things like 'They sold out the party leader' and 'The pus does not become flesh,' but yesterday he said, 'Punishment is impossible and undesirable,' and 'From the perspective of constitutional spirit, members are allowed to vote according to their conscience regardless of the party line.'"

He continued, "There may be various reasons, but probably the result of the Gangseo District mayor by-election looks promising for the Democratic Party, and then the current trend reflects considerations on how to consolidate the party leadership system and proceed without conflict afterward."

Regarding Lee Jae-myung's message of unity at the Gangseo District mayoral campaign site he visited after being discharged from the hospital, where he said, "Let's overcome our small differences within and join hands to cross the barriers," Rep. Lee commented, "Even if such abstract terms are used, there is little expectation about how they will actually act," adding, "Because he just uses abstract terms but does not actually follow through with actions."

Additionally, Rep. Lee joked about his score of 4 on the so-called 'Watermelon Party Sweetness Identification List.' 'Watermelon' is a term meaning 'Democratic Party on the outside, People Power Party on the inside,' used by Lee's hardline supporters to disparage the anti-Lee faction within the Democratic Party.

Rep. Lee said, "If the Brix level is high, the value is high, and when farmers produce it, it sells at a high price," adding, "I think the members with high sweetness scores are truly loved by the people and are the members the people want, and the 'Gaeddal' themselves are evaluating us this way."

He went on, "During the 2016 20th general election, there was a controversy over identifying 'Jinbak' based on whether one supported President Park Geun-hye or not, and in the 2020 21st general election, Hwang Kyo-ahn, the leader, associated with far-right hardline fandoms and the Taegeukgi units, staging protests outside repeatedly," adding, "But what the Democratic Party is showing now looks like a combination of those two, the 2016 and 2020 general elections."

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