Democrats Face Biggest Scandal in Sexual Misconduct, Change Stance in Just One Day

Rep. Park Wan-joo's Expulsion Followed by Public Apology
No Mention of 'Sexual Misconduct' at Next Day's Campaign Committee Meeting
Follow-up Actions Taken but Promotion Focuses Separately on Individuals

[Asia Economy Reporters Oh Ju-yeon and Park Jun-i] With less than three weeks remaining until the June 1 local elections, the Democratic Party of Korea, facing a major crisis involving a lawmaker's 'sexual misconduct,' has stated that it will "face the issue head-on without considering election advantages or disadvantages," while focusing on early resolution to prevent the negative issue from being exposed during the election campaign. The sexual misconduct case is being handled with follow-up measures at the party leadership level, and the election campaign is interpreted to have adopted a dual-track strategy focusing on each candidate's 'character.'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

At the Democratic Party's first Central Election Committee meeting held on the 13th, remarks related to the previous day's sexual misconduct case involving lawmaker Park Wan-joo were extremely restrained.

Lee Jae-myung, the overall election committee chairman, at the first committee meeting held in Gyeonggi Province that day, said, "Our party has capable candidates," highlighting the profiles of each candidate. In particular, he praised Gyeonggi Province Governor candidate Kim Dong-yeon, saying, "He has extensive experience and expertise, and has proven his excellent capabilities through achievements," while targeting the opposing candidate Kim Eun-hye of the People Power Party by emphasizing, "He contrasts with an amateur." On the previous evening, Yoon Ho-jung and Park Ji-hyun, co-chairs of the emergency committee who apologized to the public over the Park lawmaker's sexual misconduct issue, devoted their time to reaffirming the Democratic Party's determination to win the local elections and achieve a landslide victory in Gyeonggi Province. There were no remarks related to the sexual misconduct issue at the official meeting.

However, when meeting with reporters, Chairman Lee expressed agreement with the party's decision to expel lawmaker Park in response to questions about the allegations of misconduct. He said, "I agree with the party's action," adding, "Our standing election committee chairman spoke sufficiently about the issue yesterday, so I will just say that I agree with that." He refrained from making specific comments, saying, "I intended to only mention matters related to Gyeonggi Province."

The Democratic Party is expected to conclude that although the sexual misconduct case may affect the local elections, given the elections are imminent, it must proceed with the existing strategy and handle the sexual misconduct case separately through a two-track approach.

A Democratic Party official evaluated, "Since the incident broke out just before the local elections, it is expected to have a considerable impact on the elections." He added, "However, the party's fate depends on how the leadership manages the incident going forward."

Immediate effects on the election in Chungnam, the district of lawmaker Park, are also inevitable. At the opening ceremony of the Chungnam gubernatorial election office held the previous day, the Park lawmaker's sexual misconduct issue surfaced, leading to a series of apologies from party leaders at the event. A representative from the Democratic Party's Chungnam gubernatorial candidate Yang Seung-jo's camp emphasized, "Although we cannot be free from the impact of this unfortunate incident, we will focus on showing the residents the achievements and accomplishments as governor and presenting a vision."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The People Power Party strongly criticized the sexual misconduct case, but the Democratic Party counterattacked, questioning whether they have the right to do so.

On the same day, Park Ji-hyun, the Democratic Party committee chair, said, "People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok is under suspicion of sexual bribery and evidence tampering," adding, "They have decided to postpone disciplinary procedures against him until after the local elections. While the Democratic Party is at least undergoing surgery, the People Power Party is still hiding things."