"After Stripping Away All the Framing,
He Turned Out to Be a Decent Person"
Kim Sangwook, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who joined the party, is campaigning at the concentrated rally for presidential candidate Lee Jae Myung held at Yongsan Station Plaza in Seoul on May 19, 2025. Photo by Yonhap News Agency [Joint Coverage]
Kim Sangwook, who recently left the People Power Party and joined the Democratic Party of Korea, expressed his feelings about Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae Myung, saying, "I am truly sorry for having misunderstood him in the past," and added, "Now, I have come to respect him."
On May 20, during an appearance on SBS's 'Ju Youngjin's News Direct,' Kim said, "Much of my negative perception of candidate Lee was actually due to framing and personal attacks, and I realized that I, too, had been influenced by them." He continued, "Recently, as I watched all of his campaign speeches, I was surprised to find that his views were completely aligned with mine. I have truly come to respect him."
Kim also commented, "People call candidate Lee a criminal, but if you look into each case, most of them are either different from the facts, exaggerated, or the result of personal attacks." He added, "No one can be perfect."
Kim stated, "The Democratic Party is not perfect either. For me, choosing the Democratic Party was a very daunting decision." However, he continued, "But if you look at it from the perspective after the December 3 Martial Law, the Democratic Party has been fulfilling the role of conservatism. The function and role of conservatism is to build a society based on democracy, the rule of law, fairness, rationality, openness, freedom, and inclusiveness."
Heo Euna, former Reform New Party leader, and Kim Sangwook, who left the People Power Party and joined the Democratic Party, are shaking hands at the Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung's campaign held on the 19th at Times Square in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News
Since the December 3 Martial Law, Kim has been a leading figure in the movement to impeach former president Yoon Suk Yeol. During the impeachment crisis, Kim took a hardline stance, declaring, "If the impeachment is dismissed, I will go on a hunger strike until I die." As a result, there were growing calls within and outside the People Power Party to discipline Kim, as well as increasing pressure for him to leave the party.
Ultimately, Kim left the People Power Party on May 8 and joined the Democratic Party ten days later, on May 18. The day before, he issued a statement regarding his departure and new affiliation, saying, "To side with anti-national, anti-democratic, and anti-constitutional insurrectionist forces is something I must never do as a representative of the people of Nam-gu, Ulsan and the citizens of Ulsan. It would be an insult to Ulsan." He added, "Moreover, since the People Power Party shows no sign of remorse or willingness to break away from those insurrectionist forces, I decided to leave the party."
Kim explained, "The reason I joined the Democratic Party is because, since the 12·3 insurrection, the Democratic Party has been fulfilling the function and role of conservatism in defending democracy." He added, "True conservatism means upholding the principles and common sense of society, such as democracy, the rule of law, and fairness, and serving as a model of dignity and integrity."
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