Democratic Party Revises Party Charter and Rules Tailored for Lee Jae-myung's Presidential Bid... Deliberately Overlooks Lee Hwa-young's Guilty Verdict

The guilty verdict against Lee Hwa-young, former Deputy Governor for Peace of Gyeonggi Province, has also highlighted the judicial risks facing Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. While Lee has made no particular remarks regarding the guilty verdict against the former deputy governor, the Democratic Party is expected to avoid judicial risks by amending party rules and regulations to maintain Lee’s influence within the party and to counterattack the prosecution through legislative activities.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is talking with Assemblyman Hwang Myung-sun at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 10th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

On the morning of the 10th, the Democratic Party passed amendments to the party rules and regulations at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul. The amendment includes an exception clause stating that “the Party Affairs Committee may decide on the resignation deadline of the party leader and Supreme Council members in cases of considerable or special reasons.” Currently, Article 25 of the Democratic Party’s constitution stipulates that the party leader and Supreme Council members must resign one year before the presidential election if they run for president. Lee Hae-sik, the party’s chief spokesperson, told reporters after the Supreme Council meeting, “We decided to submit an amendment to the party constitution and regulations to the Party Affairs Committee that allows the resignation deadline of the party leader and Supreme Council members to be changed by the Party Affairs Committee’s resolution in cases of special and considerable reasons,” adding, “The current party constitution’s requirement that the party leader must resign one year before the presidential election lacks completeness, so we directly quoted the People Power Party’s constitution.”

The Democratic Party began working on amending the party constitution and regulations last month amid criticism that it is difficult to respond to emergency situations such as a presidential vacancy due to impeachment. According to the existing party constitution and regulations, if Lee is re-elected, he must step down as party leader by March 2026 to run in the March 2027 presidential election. However, if the amended party constitution and regulations are applied from the party convention in August, Lee will be able to exercise nomination rights in the nationwide local elections in June 2026. This means he can maintain influence within the party until just before the presidential election through nomination rights. When asked whether the local elections fall under “considerable or special reasons,” the chief spokesperson said, “It depends on the Party Affairs Committee’s judgment.”

With the guilty verdict against the former deputy governor related to the “Ssangbangwool Group’s illegal remittance to North Korea” allegations, Lee is expected to put more effort into maintaining his influence within the party. The former deputy governor was sentenced to nine years and six months in prison on charges of using Ssangbangwool Group employees to cover the costs of Lee’s 2019 visit to North Korea when Lee was governor of Gyeonggi Province, and that out of $2.3 million (approximately 3.177 billion KRW) illegally transferred overseas, $2 million went to the Workers’ Party of Korea in North Korea. Judicial risks have emerged over whether Lee was informed by the former deputy governor about these matters and whether he proceeded with the North Korea-related projects. In September last year, the National Assembly plenary session approved a motion to arrest Lee over the illegal remittance allegations.

The Democratic Party is avoiding mentioning Lee’s judicial risks. The chief spokesperson said to reporters the day before, “There was no mention of collusion with Lee in this verdict.” Lee himself has not issued any separate statements regarding this verdict so far. However, he has criticized the judiciary’s judgment. At the Supreme Council meeting that day, Democratic Party lawmaker Jang Kyung-tae said, “Judging only by the first trial results, the court appears to have ignored the National Intelligence Service’s official and objective evidence and turned a blind eye to Ssangbangwool Group’s stock manipulation charges,” adding, “The incomprehensible verdict raises concerns about declining trust in the judiciary.”

In addition to the “Special Prosecutor Act on Prosecution’s Fabrication of North Korea Remittance Case” proposed on the 3rd, the Democratic Party is expected to counter Lee’s judicial risks through other legislative activities. The Democratic Party’s “Special Countermeasures Team for Political Prosecution Case Fabrication” stated in a press release on the 8th, “Given the ongoing circumstances where there are indications that the prosecution manipulated testimonies through inducement and threats, it is difficult to accept that the court adopted a significant portion of the prosecution’s claims,” and added, “We will pass the Special Prosecutor Act as soon as possible to clearly expose the prosecution’s fabrication of the case.” On the 7th, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min also proposed a partial amendment to the Criminal Act that includes a minimum two-year prison sentence for false accusations by investigative agencies. Kim explained, “Looking at the investigation contents of the prosecution and police, it is easy to find numerous instances of evidence fabrication and perjury coercion,” and stated, “These acts disrupt the judicial system.”

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