DPK's new revamp team draws criticism for controversial remarks

By Nam Hyun-woo

Kim Eun-kyung, main opposition Democratic Party of Korea's innovation committee head / Korea Times file

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is struggling to find a way out of a quagmire involving the party's innovation committee, as its new head, Kim Eun-kyung, drew criticism for her controversial remarks about the DPK's cash-for-votes scandal ahead its race to elect a new chairman in 2021.

“The innovation committee head said in an interview that the cash-for-votes scandal could have been made up by the prosecution, which could offer a way for the criminals involved to evade punishment,” ruling People Power Party senior spokesperson Rep. Yoo Sang-bum said in a statement on Sunday.

“Criticism aimed at the innovation committee is escalating within the DPK itself,” Yoo added.

The DPK established the innovation committee as part of efforts to rebuild the party's reputation in the aftermath of a slew of scandals, including the cash-for-votes controversy involving ex-party leader Song Young-gil. DPK Chairman Lee Jae-myung has said that the committee will have “full authority” to revamp the party.

Earlier this month, the party named Lee Rae-kyung, a career civil activist, as the head of the committee, but he resigned just hours after the appointment due to controversial remarks he made in the past claiming that the North Korean attack on the ROKS Cheonan in 2010 was fabricated.

The DPK then named Kim, a professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Law School, as the new head of the committee on June 15. But she also drew controversy by saying that “the cash-for-votes scandal could have been set up by the prosecution” during a media interview on the same day.

Criticism has also emerged within the DPK, especially from those who are keeping a distance from the embattled incumbent chairman over the role of the innovation committee and Lee's leadership.

DPK Rep. Kim Jong-min said in a radio interview with KBS on Friday, “The time has come for us to make a comprehensive judgment on whether the Lee Jae-myung leadership will lead us to a victory in the general election next year.”