Democratic Party's 'Temporary Closure' of Member Bulletin Board to Operate Under Real-Name System from January 1

[Asia Economy Reporters Oh Ju-yeon and Jeon Jin-young] The Democratic Party of Korea, which temporarily suspended its party members' bulletin board on the 1st, has decided to reopen it from January 1 next year by introducing a real-name system.

On the 6th, Ko Yong-jin, senior spokesperson of the Democratic Party's election committee, met with reporters after a closed-door supreme council meeting in the morning and said, "Currently, the party members' bulletin board is in the form of nicknames," adding, "We will reopen it in a direct real-name system format."

Senior spokesperson Ko pointed out, "At present, it has completely lost its function as a public forum," and described it as "like a vent for foul language."

He said, "Since the operations team is finding it difficult to control the situation, we need to reorganize the system with the goal of making it a responsible and safe public forum for constructive criticism," adding, "We will reorganize various systems by the end of this year and operate it under a responsible real-name system."

The plan is to carry out maintenance work over the next three weeks and reopen the board on January 1 next year.

The Democratic Party's party members' bulletin board had been criticized for escalating conflicts as party members supporting presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung and former leader Lee Nak-yeon clashed sharply during the primary process. Concerns arose that it was damaging the 'one team' atmosphere ahead of the presidential election, leading the Democratic Party to temporarily close the bulletin board on the 1st.

However, some criticized the closure as an act of silencing voices, and protests against the shutdown poured in. On the 1st, Representative Shin Dong-geun wrote on Facebook, "While I understand the leadership's judgment and concerns about party division, a party that aims to establish a democratic republic government must guarantee equal speaking rights to party members on the same principle."