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.
Ex-DPK leader's call for leadership change fails to resonate within party
Former Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Lee Nak-yon speaks to reporters at a pre-release screening of "Kim Dae Jung on the Road," a movie about the former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, at a CGV multiplex in central Seoul's Yongsan District, Dec. 18. Yonhap
By Nam Hyun-woo
Outlook remains grim for Lee Nak-yon's breakaway party bid
Former Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Lee Nak-yon’s call for Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the current party chairman, to resign is failing to get responses from within the party, despite the former chief’s threats to create a breakaway party.
Stemming from its internal feuds, the DPK is now seeing its fringe members crying foul about Chairman Lee’s excessive control in setting up rules for recommending candidates for the general elections coming in April next year.
Against that backdrop, the former chief has worked to bring together party members critical of the chairman, but the outlook seems grim as DPK lawmakers remain lukewarm about the move, while he himself is not gaining enough support on his home turf.
According to officials of the former party chief's side, he is now preparing to create a new party, with a goal of making a public announcement early next year.
During a radio interview with broadcaster YTN, Thursday, the former chief said the DPK should take on “leadership by an emergency committee, meaning the chairman’s resignation” and that he “intends to talk with (the current chairman) if this takes place by the end of this year.”
His reference to an emergency committee is viewed as an invitation to the party’s marginal lawmakers. In recent weeks, a group of four lawmakers critical of the current chairman, who claim to embody principles and common sense, has been releasing statements urging the party to launch an interim leadership to seek unity between factions.
However, the group is keeping its distance from the former chairman's move to create a new party. DPK Rep. Lee Won-wook, one of the four, said in a radio interview with YTN that the group has multiple options such as staying in the party, giving up reelection bids or leaving the party, but they have yet to decide.
Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Rep. Lee Jae-myung responds to reporters' questions after visiting a senior citizen's center in Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul, Dec. 21. Joint Press Corps
Chances are slim for Chairman Lee to accept the resignation calls. The current chief told reporters, Thursday, that “it is very natural for a democratic political party to have various opinions from its members” and “you can always raise your opinion.”
Nearly 120 DPK lawmakers have already given their signatures to oppose the former chief's efforts to create the new party. They include former loyalists to the former chief such as Rep. Lee Kai-ho. The lawmaker wrote on Facebook on Dec. 14 that “it is time to unite under the DPK.”
DPK seniors are also placing emphasis on the party’s unity. Former Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum from the DPK met Chairman Lee, Wednesday, and called for “suffficent conversations for the party’s unity.”
Former National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won also wrote on Facebook Sunday that “(former chief) Lee is walking on the path of division,” and he should “return to what he used to be.”
Apparently, the former chief's new party bid is not striking a chord within the party because of a lack of confidence.
Lee has his political base in the Jeolla provinces, which are considered a stronghold region for the liberal DPK, but which have been showing lower support since the presidential election last year.
During the primary race for the DPK's presidential candidate, he clashed with Chairman Lee over a land development scandal in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, which played a critical role in the chairman’s defeat in the presidential election and is still forcing him to appear at court hearings.
Due to this, some liberal supporters believe the former chief to be the main reason for the election loss.
A Gallup Korea survey released on Dec. 15 showed that 46 percent of respondents have negative views on former chief Lee’s new party, outpacing 34 percent who were optimistic.
Among those who said they are DPK supporters, 71 percent said they are negative about the new party. Among those who live in Gwangju and surrounding Jeolla provinces, 64 percent were pessimistic. The poll surveyed 1,002 adults from Dec. 12 to 14. Further details are available on the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission’s website.
Meanwhile, Chairman Lee is striving to promote the party’s unity. He will meet former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun from the DPK next week and visit previous President Moon Jae-in in South Gyeongsang Province early next month, according to the DPK.