Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, has pushed for amendments to the party constitution and regulations that center on reflecting 20% of the votes from party members with voting rights in the election of the Speaker candidates and floor leaders.
On the 6th, Lee appeared on a YouTube live broadcast together with Jang Kyung-tae, a Supreme Council member and head of the task force (TF) for amending the party constitution and regulations, and said regarding the amendments, “An unavoidable situation is unfolding, and an inescapable situation is approaching.”
Lee emphasized, “After rowing hard and standing up, the boat may be stranded on a sandbar, and the river may flow elsewhere,” adding, “We must carefully observe the flow of the river and follow it.” He also said, “There is a saying, 'Gunju Minsu' (君舟民水: the king is the boat, the people are the water). The people can both launch the boat and overturn it,” and “It is meaningless to argue whether the water is right or wrong.” He continued, “We cannot deny the judgment or the flow of the masses themselves, and we keep persuading to acknowledge the fact that it is flowing. Some people sympathize with this.” Such remarks are interpreted as underscoring the inevitability of amending the party constitution and regulations despite some internal opposition.
Lee likened the situation to, “After the Japanese colonial era, the wealthiest house in the neighborhood was the general store, but at some point, even if the general store piled up good goods like a mountain, business did not go well,” and said, “The owner of the general store would find such changes utterly incomprehensible.” He added, “The world is changing like this, but when I tell lawmakers that if we cannot keep up, we may be left behind, it is not well received.”
Meanwhile, seemingly mindful of party members’ criticism toward those opposing the amendments, Lee urged restraint, saying, “Recently, there seems to be a lot of internal division and factionalism. Some even call me a 'subak' (watermelon),” and asked, “Please be careful.” Lee stressed internal unity, saying, “If there are different positions, we should persuade, but criticizing is an act of treason that benefits the enemy.”
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