Jin Joong-kwon: "Democratic Party Has Lost Self-Cleansing Ability... It Won't Be Fixed Going Forward"

"The Consequences of the Party's Mainstream Being the Undongkwon"

Former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon is giving a lecture on the topic "Talking about Korean Society: The Future of Ideology, Generation, and Culture" at a seminar hosted by the Economic and Social Research Institute held at Choi In-ah Bookstore in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of July 2 / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] Former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon strongly criticized the Democratic Party of Korea's decision to field candidates in next year's by-elections for the Seoul and Busan mayoral offices through a vote of all party members, saying, "The Democratic Party has already lost its ability to self-correct."

On the 3rd, Jin shared an article titled "The Effect of Geum Tae-seop's Disciplinary Action? ... Even After Overturning the Party Constitution, the Democratic Party Showed No Self-Reflection" on his Facebook and made these remarks.

He argued, "The party's internal feedback system is broken. This will not be fixed going forward," adding, "This is not a simple error but a systematized error."

He continued, "The party's very constitution has transformed into a totalitarian party. The party has become almost 100% homogenized," and added, "All of this stems from the party's mainstream being the activist faction."

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party announced that it has amended its party constitution to decide to field candidates in the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections scheduled for April next year.

According to Democratic Party officials on the 2nd, a vote among party members with voting rights was conducted over two days on the 31st of last month and the 1st of this month, with 86.64% of participating members supporting the amendment of the party constitution and nomination.

Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon said at the Supreme Council meeting on the same day, "I thank the party members for understanding that this was an unavoidable decision," but added, "Just because the will of the party members has been gathered does not mean the mistake of causing a vacancy in the administration of Seoul and Busan and holding by-elections is excused."

Lee said, "I apologize once again to the citizens of Seoul and Busan as well as the people of the nation. I also repeatedly apologize to the victimized women," and added, "I understand well that for this apology to be sincere, it must be followed by action. The party has newly activated the Ethics Inspection Team and today opened the Ethics Reporting Center and the Gender Violence Reporting Counseling Center to take follow-up measures such as investigating sexual misconduct and corruption among elected officials and key party positions affiliated with the party."

He continued, "The reason we intend to field candidates in the by-elections is because we believe respecting voters' right to choose is the responsible attitude of a public party. We will find the most moral and competent candidates through thorough verification and fair primaries and present them before the voters," adding, "We will ensure that citizens can freely choose candidates and find the results rewarding."