Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
DPK's infighting reaches turning point as two Lees meet
Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Lee Jae-myung, right, and the party's former chairman Lee Nak-yon hold a flower basket during their closed-door dinner at a restaurant in Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of Democratic Party of Korea
By Nam Hyun-woo
By Nam Hyun-woo
The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is experiencing a turning point in its internal struggle between a faction close to Chairman Lee Jae-myung and those who are not, following a long overdue meeting between the incumbent and former leaders of the party.
Former Chairman Lee Nak-yon, who exerts a significant amount of influence among the so-called anti-Lee Jae-myung faction, returned home in June after staying in the United States for over a year. His return has ignited a power struggle with the current chairman over the party's direction and message to the public, especially given the ongoing factional disputes since Lee Jae-myung assumed leadership of the nation's progressive party.
According to DPK senior spokesperson Rep. Kwon Chil-seung, the two Lees had dinner in Seoul, Friday, and agreed that “the DPK's victory in next year's general election is necessary to prevent the Yoon Suk Yeol administration from going out of control.”
Though they agreed on the need for a DPK win at the next election, they still displayed differences in how to go about achieving it.
During their dinner, the incumbant chairman noted that “the party's cohesion” is the top priority for an election victory, and that it is necessary to prevent internal conflicts.
On the other hand, the former leader stressed that “audacious innovation” is required to reinvigorate the party, and that it should unite through that process. “The DPK's innovation should start by restoring its morality and democracy within the party,” he said.
The former chairman's comments are interpreted as calling for changing the existing leadership, under which the party's approval rating fell below the 30 percent mark in a poll released on Friday.
His reference to “democracy within the party” is also seen as criticizing extreme actions taken by fervent supporters of the current chairman. After Lee took over the party, some supporters branded the former leader and members of a faction critical of the party chief as “the culprits” of the presidential election defeat.
Given the agreement on party unity from both Lees for an election victory, the DPK is now faced with the task of reconciling its factions. One of the most difficult challenges in this process is setting the rules for candidate recommendations in the general election.
In response to the party's call to reinvigorate itself, Lee has set up his own party innovation committee and given it the full authority to revamp the DPK's affairs. This, however, also faced criticism from within, as it is viewed as favoring faction members supporting the incumbent party leader.
The committee is now gearing up to look into the candidate recommendation rules. The committee said on its own website that it had talks and meetings with regional members of the party urging the “increased rights of members who are paying membership dues” and “stronger candidacy standards for those who served three or more terms as lawmakers.”
The DPK's anti-Lee Jae-myung factions are crying foul that the new rules are biased against them, because the chairman enjoys the widespread support of members paying membership fees, while many of the current DPK lawmakers are from the non-Lee Jae-myung factions.
DPK Rep. Cho Eung-cheon, who is known as one of the anti-Lee faction members, said in a radio interview with broadcaster MBC on Thursday that the innovation committee does not have the right to change the candidate recommendation rule and that “it would be no different from poking the beehive.”