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.
Main opposition head vows election victory after returning to work
Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Rep. Lee Jae-myung speaks during a Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
By Nam Hyun-woo
Bumpy roads ahead for Lee to address party's internal fractures
Rep. Lee Jae-myung , chairman of the liberal main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), vowed the party’s victory in the upcoming general elections, Wednesday, as he resumed working 15 days after suffering an injury to his neck in a knife attack.
His return came while the party is seeing a growing number of its members breaking away to join new parties created by former DPK heavyweights who were critical of the chairman. Though Lee pledged to do his “utmost to unite” the party and ensure the fairness of its candidate recommendation process, questions linger on how the troubled main opposition leader can find success in the race toward the general elections in April.
“The upcoming general elections are a mid-term evaluation of the (Yoon Suk Yeol) administration and a chance to hand down judgment to power,” Lee said during the party’s Supreme Council meeting.
“The DPK believes that this administration has failed to meet the public expectations during its two years in power, so we have to hold this administration accountable for its failures.”
Lee returned to the party 15 days after surviving a knife attack during a visit to Busan on Jan. 2. During his absence from the party, the DPK’s anti-Lee faction members, including former DPK Chairman Lee Nak-yon and Rep. Cho Eung-cheon, broke away and created their own parties.
A day earlier, former DPK lawmakers Choi Woon-youl and Sin Kyong-min left the party to join the former DPK chairman’s party. Three former mayors from the DPK also joined them, crying foul over current Chairman Lee’s excessive control of party affairs.
“Though there are lots of controversies, I will do my utmost to unite the party and will showcase new hope to the public through fair and innovative candidate recommendations (for the general elections),” the chairman said during the Supreme Council meeting.
During a separate meeting, the chairman also said he felt regretful about former DPK Chairman Lee’s departure, despite his efforts to unite the party.
Former senior presidential secretary for political affairs Jun Byung-hun / Korea Times file
Though the chairman vowed to seek cohesion between the party’s factions, pundits anticipate more DPK members will choose to leave the party because anti-Lee factions are voicing concerns over “unfair appraisal” in recommending candidates for the general elections.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Jun Byung-hun, former senior presidential secretary for political affairs under the previous Moon Jae-in administration, claimed “foul and unfair practices are prevailing in the preliminary screening for the DPK’s candidate recommendation.”
Jun was convicted for receiving bribes but was reinstated after receiving a presidential pardon in December 2022 and returned to the DPK. He sought to run in the Dongjak A constituency in Seoul, which is currently represented by the screening committee head Rep. Kim Byung-kee, who disqualified Jun citing his past history.
“The screening committee has qualified candidates who have records of driving under the influence, indictment or even conviction, but it now takes issue with the pardon and reinstatement,” Jun said, referring to a number of DPK members who passed the screening committee. Jun told the Munhwa Ilbo newspaper that “it won’t take long” for him to decide whether to leave the party.
Concerns are growing within the DPK that more departures will deal a hefty blow to the party’s election campaign, because breakaway parties are adopting a big tent strategy which even embraces a new conservative party to sway the general elections.
Regarding the Lee's message on “efforts for unity,” Cho’s new party said in a statement that the chairman “did not sincerely respond to our calls for innovation, while turning a blind eye to the suppression and humiliation that we have endured.”
Ruling People Power Party interim leader Han Dong-hoon, left, poses with former Land Minister Won Hee-ryong during a New Year greeting event of the party's Incheon headquarters at a hotel in Incheon, Tuesday. Joint Press Corps
Pressure is also growing outside the DPK, as the conservative ruling People Power Party’s (PPP) interim leader Han Dong-hoon had been grabbing public attention during the DPK chairman's absence.
During a New Year meeting at the PPP’s Incheon headquarters, Han proposed reducing the number of National Assembly seats from 300 to 250 to bring “reform to politics.”
Though DPK spokesperson Rep. Choi Hye-young denounced the proposal as being irresponsible, some DPK lawmakers are voicing concerns that the PPP is staying ahead of the DPK in terms of reform agendas.
Against that backdrop, Won Hee-ryong, former land minister and former three-term lawmaker of the PPP, is signaling that he will run in Incheon’s Gyeyang B constituency, which is DPK Chairman Lee’s current electoral district, saying he will “clear obstacles.” If Won is recommended for the constituency, it will be one of the most critical showdowns in the general elections.