Democratic Party Launches 'Full-Power Innovation Committee'... Bimyeong Faction "Skeptical"

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The Democratic Party of Korea has appointed Lee Rae-gyeong, founder and honorary chairman of the nonprofit organization Dareun Baeknyeon, as the chairperson of the party's Innovation Committee. The Democratic Party plans to entrust both the name and role of the Innovation Committee entirely to the innovation body and fully accept the innovation proposals prepared by it. With an external figure placed at the head of the innovation body and given full authority, attention is focused on whether the party's high-intensity reform will gain momentum.

On the 5th, Lee Jae-myung, the party leader, announced at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly in the morning, "Today, the Democratic Party has decided to appoint Lee Rae-gyeong, honorary chairman of the nonprofit organization Dareun Baeknyeon, as the person responsible for leading the party's innovation body." He added, "We will entrust everything regarding the new innovation body's name and role entirely to the innovation body."

Chairperson Lee graduated from the Department of Metallurgical Engineering at Seoul National University and participated as a founding member of the National Democratic Youth Student Federation (Mincheonghakryeon), serving as the first standing committee member. He has also served as a director and operations chairman of the Korean Peninsula Foundation, honorary chairman of the nonprofit organization Ilchon Community, and co-representative of the nonprofit Welfare State Society. Currently, he also serves as the standing co-representative of the Sovereign National Assembly.

Lee, classified as a figure aligned with the late Kim Geun-tae faction, once joined the New Politics Alliance for Democracy when Ahn Cheol-soo of the People Power Party founded the new party in 2014, and was at one point considered part of the Ahn Cheol-soo faction.

Earlier, on the 14th of last month, the Democratic Party resolved at a party members' meeting focused on party reform to establish an innovation body at the party level to prepare political innovation measures that would enhance transparency and democracy in the party convention.

This move came amid rising concerns ahead of next year's general election due to a series of setbacks, including the '2021 party convention cash envelope scandal' and the controversy over former member Kim Nam-guk's possession of large amounts of virtual assets, which sparked calls for party reform.

The party leadership plans to launch the innovation body around mid-month after completing the appointment of committee members. Since the party leadership has decided to grant full authority to the innovation body, attention is on whether this will accelerate high-intensity reform. However, there are also some concerns among certain quarters.

On the same day, former Blue House Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Choi Jae-sung appeared on KBS Radio in the morning and evaluated the launch of the Innovation Committee as somewhat delayed in timing.

Former Secretary Choi said, "There were issues like the cash envelope and Kim Nam-guk's case, and the repercussions were not simple. The need for innovation triggered by these events and the presentation of innovation proposals questioning whether the party can successfully contest the general election in its current state both occurred simultaneously." He added, "Because of this, the Innovation Committee had to be launched, but it is somewhat late. It's unfortunate that this is not a gain but rather a loss."

Lee Sang-min, a key figure of the non-Lee Jae-myung faction in the Democratic Party, emphasized that the first step in the party's innovation is to settle the positions of party leader Lee Jae-myung and the party leadership.

On SBS Radio that day, Lee said, "It is not enough to just put forward a seemingly suitable person as the chairperson of the Innovation Committee. Ultimately, the first step in the Democratic Party's innovation depends on the positions of Leader Lee and the leadership."

Lee pointed out, "A new leadership must be formed, and under that leadership, progress must be made to quell various controversies. Currently, the party is burdened with Leader Lee's judicial risks, the cash envelope issue, and Kim Nam-guk's coin case, and there is no internal solution to these problems." He added, "In such circumstances, there is skepticism and doubt about how free the Innovation Committee can be from Leader Lee's influence and whether it can proceed in a proper direction."