Factional infighting puts DPK chief in leadership crisis

By Yi Whan-woo

• Published Nov 15, 2026 4:18 PM KST

Loyalists to ex-leader intensify criticism toward Kim, boycott party meeting

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Kim Min-seok faces a leadership crisis only about three months into the position, as factional infighting between his supporters and loyalists to the party's former leader is escalating, with the latter boycotting meetings and openly criticizing his leadership.

The latest move adds to disputes that have dogged Kim’s leadership, ranging from a row over his claim of a “secret alliance” between a nonmainstream religious sect and the former leader, Jung Chung-rae, and Kim's investigation order for one of Jung's loyalists, to disagreements over pending issues including the chief justice’s impeachment and property tax reform.

On Friday, Reps. Choi Min-hee, Han Min-soo and Lee Seong-yun, all Supreme Council members and considered loyalists to Jung, boycotted a meeting in protest against Kim’s order the previous day for the party's ethics committee to investigate Choi. They instead held a press conference to call for the party's reform, criticizing Kim's leadership.

Kim and Jung competed in a bitterly contested party leadership race in August.

Kim ordered the investigation — a primary step for a disciplinary action — after the release of a recording in which Choi told party members last month that President Lee Jae Myung had opposed former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment.

Choi’s claim contradicted Lee’s public support for removing Yoon over his botched martial law declaration in December 2024, prompting Cheong Wa Dae to dismiss Choi’s account as groundless.

Choi later said she may have confused the issue with the impeachment of Yoon’s former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. Her allies then launched a counterattacked against Kim, with Han saying, "Kim ordered the investigation to a colleague, as if he had been waiting for her mistake, without first seeking an explanation ... It is Kim who should be under the ethics committee's investigation."

But Rep. Park Sun-won, another Supreme Council member and a supporter of Kim, urged Choi to apologize, saying, "People should apologize when they have to. If not, it is a divisive act."

The boycott has further strained relations between the rival camps after Kim accused Jung’s supporters of forming a secret alliance with the religious sect Shincheonji.

Kim apologized on Nov. 3 after acknowledging a lack of evidence, but Jung’s supporters have continued demanding political accountability.

Jung rejected Kim’s offer of talks, Thursday, arguing that the damage to party members and supporters could not be resolved through a private meeting between the two politicians.

Kim also faces criticism for failing to set a clear course on impeaching Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, whom ruling bloc lawmakers accuse of political bias over the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the president's acquittal in an election law case ahead of the 2025 presidential election.

The DPK remains divided over whether to pursue immediate impeachment, or first conduct a parliamentary investigation, with the Jung faction seeking impeachment.

Lee Seong-yun accused Kim of wavering between the two options without following through on either. "Kim was indecisive over whether to impeach Cho or not, but suddenly came up with the parliamentary investigation option. But he is again putting off the decision on whether to pursue the option," he said.

Property tax reform has exposed another friction within the party.

The Lee administration plans to raise the threshold for the comprehensive real estate tax, a punitive levy aimed at curbing housing speculation amid a housing shortage, from 1.2 billion won to 1.4 billion won ($1.04 million) for single-home owners who live in their property.

Some DPK lawmakers representing greater Seoul want the same tax relief extended to those who live elsewhere for work or other reasons, while Kim backs the government’s proposal.