Seolhun Checks Lee Jaemyung: "If He Becomes Party Leader, Division Will Occur... 'Banmyeong' Are More"

Serious Concerns Raised Over Daejangdong and Lawyer Fee Payments
Criticism of Lee Jae-myung for Recruiting Park Ji-hyun

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Rep. Seol Hoon, who declared his candidacy for the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, fired a warning shot at his competitor Rep. Lee Jae-myung, saying, "If he becomes the party leader, division will occur."

On the 18th, Rep. Seol appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and stated, "There is a division between pro-Lee (pro-Lee Jae-myung faction) and anti-Lee (anti-Lee Jae-myung faction), and I believe there are more people belonging to the anti-Lee faction within the party."

He said, "If left as is, the party will fall into serious chaos. Shouldn't we prevent that?" He pointed out, "The parliamentary election will be held in a year and a half, and if Rep. Lee becomes the party leader, that division will deepen. How will we conduct the general election?"

He emphasized, "He says that since the party is in crisis, he will run for the party leader and organize things himself, but that is a very wrong judgment."

Rep. Seol also criticized the judicial risks surrounding Rep. Lee. Regarding the Daejang-dong scandal, he said, "The people currently detained are all very close aides of his," and about the issue of lawyer fee payments, he said, "The facts don't add up," adding, "It is common sense to think that someone else paid the fees."

He continued, "From the perspective of the People Power Party, they might even hope for that," and pointed out, "From that viewpoint, the judicial risk is definitely a real risk for our party. If the party leader carries that risk and falls into such a situation, the entire party will be engulfed in judicial risk."

Rep. Seol expressed a positive view on the need for unification. He diagnosed, "I think it will eventually happen that way (unification). I believe Rep. Lee will enter. Among the three candidates, if he enters, the remaining two will naturally be eliminated through the cut-off process, so the two can naturally unify or do something similar."

Regarding the candidacy of former co-chair Park Ji-hyun, he said, "She is doing her best," but criticized Rep. Lee by saying, "The judgment to put someone of that age as party leader is a much bigger problem."