Criticism Saying "Damaging the Honor of the Democratic Party" Mentioning Choe Kang-wook and Kim Nam-guk
"Party Rules Must Be Changed to Elect Candidates Who Gain Public Support as Representatives"
[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Former Emergency Committee Chairperson of the Democratic Party, Park Jihyun, claimed that "the origin of violent fandom is the so-called extreme Moon faction (referring to the fervent supporters of former President Moon Jae-in)" and that "a representative politician who has suffered all kinds of hardships as a thorn in their side is Representative Lee Jae-myung."
On the 24th, Park posted on Facebook an article titled 'We must break away from violent fandom and revive democracy within the party,' stating, "These extreme Moon faction members branded and punished anyone who made statements even slightly different from President Moon's position."
She said, "Violent fandom has turned the Democratic Party into a shameless party that does not apologize even when it is wrong. It has eliminated debate and dialogue and has sickened democracy within the party," emphasizing, "Now is the time to decide. We must move away from fandom politics and return to politics of public sentiment."
Park criticized, mentioning Representatives Choi Kang-wook and Kim Nam-guk, saying, "At the confirmation hearing for Han Dong-hoon (Minister of Justice), they damaged the dignity and honor of the Democratic Party and caused the election defeat, yet there was no official apology at all, and no one held them accountable."
Regarding the so-called 'Geomsu Wanbak' (complete removal of prosecutorial investigation rights) bill, which separates prosecution and investigation, she pointed out, "At least dozens of lawmakers opposed the forced prosecution reform that caused the local election defeat, but the party meeting unanimously adopted the party stance. It was as if violent fandom forced silence." She added, "Democratic Party lawmakers must speak out without fear of violent fandom," raising her voice, "Fandom itself is not guilty, but violent acts such as verbal abuse, sexual harassment, personal attacks, and cyberbullying disguised as fandom are clear crimes."
She also stressed, "The new party leader election regulations are very important. We must change the party rules so that the gap between party sentiment and public sentiment narrows and a candidate who gains more public support rather than fandom support can be elected as party leader." This is interpreted as a call to increase the proportion of general public opinion polls in the current Democratic Party convention rules (45% delegates, 40% party members with voting rights, 10% general public opinion polls, 5% general party members' opinion polls).
Park, who was appointed as the Democratic Party emergency committee chairperson after the presidential election in March, resigned after the Democratic Party's defeat in the June 1 local elections. After a period of silence, she has been posting on Facebook since the 20th, expressing her opinions on ways to reform the Democratic Party. Some speculate that Park may run in the August party convention.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
