Shaky Democratic Innovation Committee... Can They Fix the 'Nomination Rules'?

Eunkyung Kim Myth, Doubts Over Securing Innovation Momentum
Concerns Over Renewed Factional Conflict Within Party Over Nomination Reform

The Innovation Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea has suffered a blow due to the verbal controversy involving Chairwoman Kim Eun-kyung, raising concerns about whether it can continue to push forward innovations such as changes to the nomination rules and the delegate system. The pro-Myeong (친명) faction is backing the call for a "nomination overhaul," but the non-Myeong (비명) faction has been cold toward the Innovation Committee’s hints at changing the nomination rules. In this situation, if the '3rd Innovation Proposal' is announced, opposition within the party is expected to be significant.

On the 3rd, Democratic Party lawmaker Ahn Min-seok, classified as pro-Myeong, said on YTN's "News King with Park Ji-hoon," "This election is about innovating nominations through personnel reform by both ruling and opposition parties. Senior lawmakers should boldly step aside. Even first-term lawmakers who do not act like opposition members should step aside. Conduct a large-scale personnel reform," adding, "Only then will the Innovation Committee receive applause from the public, and I believe we will win the general election."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This was a request to Chairwoman Kim and the Innovation Committee for a shake-up through changes to the nomination rules. The Innovation Committee has hinted at taking action on changing the nomination rules through the 3rd Innovation Proposal. On the 1st, Innovation Committee member Seo Bok-kyung responded to an MBC radio host’s question, "Will you look into the nomination rules or the delegate system issue?" by saying, "That is an internal party matter. It is something we are looking into, and it is our responsibility to handle it."

On the same day, Innovation Committee spokesperson Kim Nam-hee also stated on KBS's "Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs," "We have not gone into very detailed specifics yet, but we are considering how the Democratic Party can achieve personnel reform," indicating that they are contemplating changes to the nomination rules. It is also known that the recent survey sent by the Innovation Committee to Democratic Party lawmakers for preparing the innovation proposal included content related to nomination reform.

However, since changes to the nomination rules involve conflicting interests among factions, it is uncertain whether the Innovation Committee can tackle nomination issues while its credibility has plummeted due to the 'elderly disparagement' controversy. Although Chairwoman Kim apologized during a visit to the Korea Senior Citizens Association, the controversy surrounding her remarks has not easily subsided.

Democratic Party lawmaker Jeon Yong-gi, also classified as pro-Myeong, criticized on YTN's "News & Issue" the same day, "(Chairwoman Kim) is seen as acting for her own political interests. The Innovation Committee chair took on a task that did not need to be done, which caused this problem," adding, "Why should the party’s Innovation Committee chair encourage voting? That is actually something politicians do."

If the Innovation Committee changes the nomination rules, it is expected to propose measures such as "prohibiting more than three consecutive terms in the same electoral district" and "abolishing the delegate system." These proposals align with those previously suggested by the pro-Myeong faction’s external organization, the DeMinju National Innovation Council, and are likely to provoke strong opposition from the non-Myeong faction.

In particular, since the Democratic Party’s Nomination System Task Force (TF) finalized the nomination rules in May, if the Innovation Committee interferes with the nomination rules, factional conflicts are expected to reach a peak.

Meanwhile, on the same day, Chairwoman Kim visited the Korea Senior Citizens Association in Yongsan-gu with lawmaker Hwang Hee and others, repeatedly apologizing to Chairman Kim Ho-il and others, saying, "There were clearly shortcomings in my judgment." However, in response to the senior citizens’ association’s reproach asking if she had any intention of stepping down, she replied, "That is a different matter."