'Separate Debate' Held by Democratic Party's Reform Faction: "Core of Distrust is Double Standards... Disadvantageous for General Election"

The 'Minjudang-ui Gil' (Path of the Democratic Party), a faction within the Democratic Party of Korea opposed to Lee Jae-myung, held its own forum on the 24th by inviting a public opinion poll expert.

The purpose of this gathering was to assess the current public opinion landscape ahead of the general election in April next year and to explore possible changes within the party.

Kim Bong-shin, Vice President of the polling agency Jowon C&I, presented an analysis of recent major poll results and proposed measures to improve the party's approval ratings.

After the closed-door forum, Representative Kim Jong-min told reporters, "Vice President Kim pointed out 'double standards' as the core reason for the unfavorable perception of the Democratic Party," adding, "There was talk that there needs to be a movement to change public distrust within this year."

He also said, "It was pointed out that if distrust toward both major parties (People Power Party and Democratic Party) becomes entrenched and an election driven by unfavorable sentiment is held, the Democratic Party camp would be at a disadvantage," and explained, "Among voters with unfavorable feelings, Democratic Party supporters are more likely not to turn out to vote."

Eleven anti-Lee Jae-myung faction lawmakers, including Representative Kim, attended the forum.

With the prosecution's second request for an arrest warrant against Representative Lee Jae-myung imminent, attention was focused on whether discussions about the vote on the arrest consent bill and other judicial risks concerning Lee would take place. However, it was reported that related remarks were hardly made.

Regarding the recent proposal by pro-Lee faction lawmaker Min Hyung-bae to stage a 'mass walkout' during the plenary vote on the arrest consent bill, Representative Kim said, "Lawmakers see that as practically impossible," and added, "Since it was suggested by only one or two individual lawmakers, the leadership is unlikely to follow that suggestion."

However, some anti-Lee faction lawmakers publicly criticized Min's remarks in media interviews that day.

Representative Cho Eung-cheon appeared on a radio program and said, "If there are lawmakers who do not walk out and remain seated during the vote on the arrest consent bill, they will be identified as 'subak' (a derogatory term for the anti-Lee faction)," and criticized, "It reminds me of the 'fumi-e' during Japan's Edo period, where Christian believers were forced to step on crosses to identify them."

Supreme Council member Song Gap-seok also emphasized on the radio, "Proposing to abstain from the vote is nonsense, and since the vote must continue at the next plenary session, it is completely impossible."