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| Park Hong-keun, floor leader and acting chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), speaks during a meeting of lawmakers and party officials at the National Assembly in Seoul on Friday to discuss the aftermath of the party's defeat in Wednesday's elections. Yonhap |
Lee Jae-myung's election victory tarnished
By Kwon Mee-yoo
The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has been reeling from the consequences of its crushing defeat in the June 1 local elections, just months after its humiliating loss in the presidential race.
The party is deeply divided as lawmakers blame Lee Jae-myung, a former DPK presidential candidate who unsuccessfully ran in the March 9 presidential election and the winner of the June 1 by-election in Incheon to become a lawmaker, for his premature return to politics.
The DPK only secured five out of 17 metropolitan mayoral and gubernatorial posts.
Lee succeeded in joining the National Assembly by winning a by-election in Incheon's Gyeyang District, but his victory was tarnished by the party's defeat. Although he won the election, he has been accused of being a self-serving politician. Those who are critical of Lee claimed his return to politics came too early and accuse him of refusing to take responsibility for his defeat in the presidential election.
After losing the presidential race, the DPK attempted to reform itself by naming as its co-interim leader, Park Ji-hyun, a 26-year-old former activist who fought against digital sex crimes and joined Lee's presidential camp. However, she faced stiff resistance in her attempt to reform the party from within.
The internal discord has grown from bad to worse after the DPK lost the local elections.
The DPK plans to hold a convention in August to elect a new chairman. But the party is largely divided between those who support former President Moon Jae-in and those who back Lee, and the two groups are blaming each other for the loss in the recent elections.
The pro-Moon group criticized Lee running for a parliamentary seat in Incheon only three months after his defeat in the presidential election.
Rep. Kim Jong-min appeared in an interview on MBC radio Friday and said a defeated presidential candidate running for another election so soon goes against the basic common sense of democracy.
"His running in another election did not help the DPK in the local elections. Lee made headlines, but other regional DPK candidates didn't get much attention, which wasn't favorable for them," Kim said.
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| Lee Jae-myung, right, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) former presidential candidate and winner of the Incheon Gyeyang parliamentary by-election, and Park Ji-hyun, the DPK's co-interim leader, watch the exit poll results of the June 1 local elections at the party's election camp, Wednesday. Park resigned taking responsibility for the party's defeat in the elections, Thursday. Yonhap |
However, pro-Lee politicians said he cannot be held solely responsible for the local elections, which were held right after the new president's inauguration and the DPK as an opposition party for the first time in five years.
Rep. Moon Jin-seog wrote on his Facebook Thursday that it is not the right time to blame someone for the defeat in the elections.
"If former presidents Kim Dae-jung or Roh Moo-hyun came back to life and led the election committee, the result wouldn't be much different," Moon wrote.
As the DPK's internal conflict deepens, some criticized the overall situation of deepening factions.
Choi Jae-sung, a former senior presidential aide and four-time lawmaker, wrote on his social media that the DPK would be an "epic failure" if it continues to split up into factions.
"All internal groups of the DPK, which promote selfish politics and encourage struggle over party leadership, should be disbanded as they are the sources of division within the party," Choi wrote.
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