Prime Minister Kim Min-seok (right) and former party leader Jung Chung-rae (left) leave their seats at a workshop for young Democratic Party election winners held at Konjiam Resort in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, on the 28th. Yonhap News
The Democratic Party of Korea’s national convention race is escalating into a battle over the party’s direction, pitting the pro-Lee faction that has newly seized control of the party’s foundation around President Lee Jae-myung against the existing support base tied to former Presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in. The conflict comes as public criticism continues over President Lee’s path of centrist expansion and integration, even in the second year of his administration. Some analysts say this convention could become a watershed for party division, given that past conflicts—between Roh and the Donggyo-dong faction, and between Moon and the old Democratic Party faction—led to the founding of the Uri Party and the splintering of the People’s Party, respectively.
Jung Chung-rae, the former Democratic Party leader who represents the old mainstream, posted an article titled “Proposals for the Success of the Lee Jae-myung Government and Regaining Power—Integration and Solidarity” on Facebook Friday, defining President Lee as a “comrade and comrade-in-arms.” It drew attention that, unlike his expressions of reverence in stating that he “respected President Kim Dae-jung, loved President Roh Moo-hyun, and liked President Moon Jae-in,” he defined his relationship with President Lee as that of a “comrade.”
Going further, Jung stressed, “On ‘fourfold integration,’ those who support the four presidents must first integrate among ourselves,” adding, “those who support the four presidents are comrades who have walked together looking in one direction until now.” While this can be read as an argument that conflicts among support groups must be mended, considering Jung’s past remark that “administrations are short, but party members are eternal,” it is interpreted as once again revealing his conviction that the true owners of the party are the existing members rather than the recently strengthened pro-Lee faction. Jung also reiterated his call for integration with the Rebuilding Korea Party and others, which the pro-Lee faction opposes.
Jung’s problem awareness, opposing the pro-Lee-centered party power realignment, also aligns with the “reconstruction theory” raised by Rhyu Si-min, former chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation. Regarding President Lee’s move toward centrist and conservative expansion while emphasizing inclusion and integration, Rhyu argued, “Becoming everyone’s president is desirable, but the problem is that the president’s confidence went too far.” He went on to point out, “What the people who passionately protected and cheered for President Lee in the process of his becoming president wanted was an extension. It is a three-story house, and they wanted to add one more floor toward the center and conservatives,” adding, “But the president was trying to do a reconstruction.”
This is interpreted as an argument that President Lee is alienating existing party members for the sake of centrist and conservative figures whom he brought into the ruling camp’s mainstream simply because they supported him. YouTuber Kim Eo-jun’s recent citing of “the departure of the core support base” as the cause of the decline in the president’s approval rating is read in the same context.
Pro-Lee faction candidates for party leadership and lawmakers all pushed back. Prime Minister Kim Min-seok met with reporters after attending a workshop for young elected officials in Gwangju and said, “The democratic camp’s forces have played a role in changing the big picture of Korean politics,” adding, “It is right to do the work of building a framework that can align with the democratic forces’ governance and continuity.” In effect, he assessed the pro-Lee faction’s party power realignment centered on President Lee as “changing the big picture.”
Rep. Song Young-gil also pushed back at the Gwangju workshop for young elected officials, saying, “Things that cross the line are happening, such as recklessly speaking about and attacking the president.” Rep. Kang Deuk-gu of the Democratic Party, a member of the pro-Lee faction, criticized, “(Jung’s comrade remark) calling only President Lee a comrade is practically sarcasm,” adding, “Rhyu, too, has drifted far from public sympathy.” Rep. Jung Jin-wook also pointed out, “I never imagined they would so nakedly confess their inner thoughts—that they themselves are the building owners of the Democratic Party and that Lee Jae-myung is a tenant.”
Unlike the 2018 Democratic Party convention held in the second year of Moon’s administration, which unfolded as a competition over pro-Moon credentials among candidates Lee Hae-chan, Kim Jin-pyo, and Song Young-gil, concerns are emerging that the current Democratic Party convention race could trigger internal division depending on the result. A Democratic Party official said, “There is widespread concern within the party that if the party leader President Lee wants is not elected, a lame-duck situation could come immediately,” adding, “Depending on the convention result, even the possibility of a party split is being raised.”