[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] The first-term lawmakers of the Democratic Party of Korea announced a reform plan for party innovation on the 22nd following their defeat in the April 7 by-elections. The first-term lawmakers demanded the party leadership to apologize for the sexual misconduct cases within the party, including those involving the late Park Won-soon, former mayor of Seoul, and Oh Keo-don, former mayor of Busan, as well as the formation of a party reform committee.
Ko Young-in, chairman of the operating committee of the first-term lawmakers’ group ‘Deomincho’ of the Democratic Party of Korea, held a press conference at the National Assembly in the afternoon and stated, “First-term lawmakers sincerely reflect on the sexual misconduct cases that have emerged within the party and apologize to the public and the victims.”
Ko also urged the party leadership to offer a sincere apology that the public and victims can accept, saying, “Furthermore, we demand a genuine apology from the party leadership that the public and victims can accept.”
He proposed the formation of a party-level reform committee and decided to establish programs to strengthen practical communication with the public. He said, “We will install a ‘Bitter Truth Listening Booth’ in Yeouido and each regional committee and regularly hold in-depth generational discussion forums to collect public opinion from multiple perspectives.”
He also called for strengthening democracy within the party. Ko emphasized, “Before legislation or policy decisions, collective discussions among lawmakers must be activated,” and “We must innovate into a democratic decision-making system that can consolidate the capabilities of each lawmaker.”
Regarding the incident where Floor Leader Yoon Ho-jung, who is also the emergency response committee chairman, referred to the victims as ‘victim-nim’ during a visit to the National Cemetery and apologized, Ko said, “I think it has some significance,” but added, “A separate sincere apology that the public and victims can accept must also be prepared.”
When asked why the reform plan did not include issues such as real estate problems and the former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk’s scandal, which had been discussed among first-term lawmakers, he replied, “Policy reform plans will continue to be prepared in future programs,” and “The issue of former Minister Cho was previously expressed by lawmakers from the 2030 group. We focused on preparing reform plans going forward.”
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