[2nd Report] Ruling Party Urges All 12 Members with Real Estate Allegations to 'Resign from Party'... "Prove Yourself as Independents, Not as the Governing Party"

[Asia Economy Reporters Oh Ju-yeon and Jeon Jin-young] On the 8th, the Democratic Party of Korea decided to recommend all 12 Democratic Party lawmakers, who were found to have misconduct suspicions such as illegal transactions in the full-scale real estate investigation by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, to leave the party. At the same time, they urged them to step down from their status as 'ruling party lawmakers' and face the investigation as 'independent lawmakers.'

Senior Spokesperson Ko Yong-jin held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Hall in the afternoon and said, "At the last party convention, all party leader candidates pledged to respond strictly to this issue," and added, "After discussion at today's Supreme Council meeting, it was decided to recommend all 12 subjects to leave the party."

Senior Spokesperson Ko stated, "Although this is an excessive preemptive measure based on the presumption of innocence, we expect that they will shed their status as ruling party lawmakers and fairly cooperate with the investigation as independent lawmakers to thoroughly resolve the suspicions and restore public trust."

Party Leader Song Young-gil received the list of 12 affiliated lawmakers involved in real estate speculation suspicions the day before. Senior Spokesperson Ko said, "Leader Song received the list yesterday and was deeply troubled, unable to sleep," and added, "If the Democratic Party does not change, it cannot gain the trust of the people. Although the unjust protests of fellow lawmakers are vivid, the party leadership has decided to request acceptance from the standpoint of putting the party first and the individual later."

He continued, "Please reconsider why our party agreed to conduct a full-scale investigation with the consent of all lawmakers," and added, "We will keep the door open and wait for our fellow lawmakers to quickly resolve the suspicions and return to the Democratic Party."

In March, the Democratic Party requested the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, under the name of Emergency Committee Chairman Kim Tae-nyeon, to conduct a full-scale investigation of real estate transactions involving 174 affiliated lawmakers and their direct relatives in relation to the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) and public officials' real estate speculation suspicions. Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Chairwoman Jeon Hyun-hee voluntarily excluded herself from the duty due to her affiliation with the Democratic Party, and a special investigation team, including members recommended by the opposition party, investigated a total of 816 people, including the lawmakers themselves, their spouses, and direct relatives, from April 2 to June 7.

Among them, 12 lawmakers were involved in real estate speculation suspicions. Since the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission lacks compulsory investigative authority and has limitations in fact-finding, it requested investigative agencies to investigate the insufficiently explained parts and transferred the case to the police special investigation headquarters.

Senior Spokesperson Ko said, "We hope a thorough investigation will be conducted promptly to distinguish the innocent from the guilty," and added, "We also hope the involved lawmakers will sincerely cooperate with the investigation and actively submit explanatory materials to resolve the suspicions."