Support for the DP erodes in Gwangju amid party infighting

Support for the DP has historically topped 70 percent in the city, ground zero of the nation’s democratic movement including the historic May 18 uprising in 1980. Until now, DP candidates regularly won landslides in Gwangju.

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung greeted by Gwangju residents during his visit in April. [YONHAP]

The city of Gwangju has long been a Democratic Party (DP) bastion. But it may not be so much longer.

In a survey conducted between June 27 and June 29, Gwangju residents’ support for the DP was just 51 percent.

Support for the DP has historically topped 70 percent in the city, ground zero of the nation’s democratic movement including the historic May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement in 1980.

Until now, DP candidates regularly won landslides in Gwangju.

However, that trend is changing.

The city’s support for the DP started to drop from 65 percent to 51 percent in the first week of March when the party used its overwhelming majority in the National Assembly to defeat an arrest warrant motion against party leader Lee Jae-myung, who is implicated in several bribery and profiteering cases, as well as election law violations.

The city’s support for the party dropped as low as 41 percent in the final week of May.

War within “I’m almost about to swear,” said a taxi driver in his 60s when the party was mentioned. “The politicians are only interested in partisanship within the party between Lee Jae-myung and [former DP leader] Lee Nak-yon.”

“All of the old-fashioned politicians should be removed,” he added.

The two Lees have been locked in an intense competition since the party’s presidential primary in 2021.

Eventual winner Lee Jae-myung garnered 50.3 percent in the race, while runner-up Lee Nak-yon — who served as prime minister under former President Moon Jae-in — garnered 39.1 percent.

Even though Lee Nak-yon went to the United States after the DP's defeat in the March 2022 presidential election, he remains subject to continuous attack by Lee Jae-myung's partisans, the so-called “Daughters of Reform” or gaettal.

The gaettal also mock Lee Nak-yon and other DP politicians who oppose Lee Jae-myung as “watermelons” — DP blue on the outside, but People Power Party (PPP) red on the inside.

They accuse even former President Moon of being a watermelon.

Lee Jae-myung partisans especially blame the former prime minister for allegedly digging up the suspicions that have long plagued the current DP head, particularly regarding the controversial Daejang-dong development project.

The DP head is accused of using his authority as then-Seongnam city mayor to enable a cabal of private developers led by former journalist Kim Man-bae to amass windfall profits.

In return, he allegedly received kickbacks that went into a slush fund used for his successful 2021 primary campaign.

Lee Jae-myung has denied such accusations.

Tension between Lee Jae-myung's supporters and opponents peaked during February's parliamentary vote on the arrest warrant against the DP leader.

Lee Jae-myung just narrowly survived the vote, with some DP lawmakers suspected of casting invalid ballots as a sign of frustration.

In the end, 139 lawmakers voted for the arrest, while 138 voted against it with nine abstentions and 11 invalid votes.

Though this was short of the parliamentary majority needed to pass the arrest motion, it was nonetheless a shock as the DP held 169 seats and the PPP just 115.

Lee Nak-yon returned to Korea more than two weeks ago, he has yet to meet Lee Jae-myung, demonstrating the continued rift between the two.

Lee Nak-yon has rejected rumors that politics are behind the delayed meeting, claiming the two sides are arranging a sit-down.

Yet the former prime minister nevertheless found time to visit the tombs of two late presidents and even share a drink with former President Moon at his home in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang.

Former Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae has also jumped into the fray, appearing on the radio and YouTube to attack her old bosses — former President Moon and former Prime Minister Lee — for sacking her during his fight with then-chief prosecutor Yoon Suk Yeol, a move she believes allowed the latter to become president.

Choo especially accused Lee Nak-yon, then the party leader, of forcing her to resign in 2021 as a ploy to win mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan, citing falling poll numbers due to her conflict with Yoon.

Even DP lawmakers and supporters interpret Choo's attack on Moon and Lee Nak-yon as a ploy to curry favor with current party boss Lee Jae-myung in hopes of being picked to run in next year's general election.

Passing the blame The infighting has started to erode support in formerly rock-solid Gwangju, which had the highest voter participation rate in last year’s presidential election at 81.5 percent.

“The same people making derogatory comments in politics,” said an 82-year-old resident, who only wanted to be identified as Park. “Don’t even talk about politics to me.”

A fishmonger in his 60s at Gwangju's Yangdong Market said he was concerned about the DP's attacks on Japan's plan to release treated radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean.

“The politicians keep raising the Fukushima issue, so stores are closing up and there aren’t any customers in the market,” he said.

Even in Gwangju, party supporters are split between partisans of Lee Jae-myung and Lee Nak-yon, the latter being a Jeolla province as well.

“When I look at Lee Nak-yon, I feel a bit of disappointment,” said a 62-year-old resident identified only by her surname of Park. “He should have stayed after the presidential election instead of irresponsibly leaving the country and protecting the party.”

“The DP needs a lot of help because it's being attacked by the Yoon Suk Yeol government,” Park said.

Another woman identified by her surname of Choi shared those sentiments.

“Lee Nak-yon didn’t help Lee Jae-myung as much as he could in the presidential election,” Choi said. “It is true that Lee Jae-myung is surrounded by a lot of scandals, but some are fabricated.”

A 56-year-old named Lee expressed frustration with Lee Jae-myung.

“Since he is so busy defending himself against his legal troubles, he doesn’t have much room for politics,” Lee said. “I don’t see any of the leadership that once called for getting rid of the past and corruption while restraining the strong and supporting the weak.”

A 20-year-old college student Choi said he suspects Lee Jae-myung will lose the next presidential election since he's lost a lot of credibility.

“It is the natural order to start all over,” Choi said.

Third-party options, local favorites few Regardless of which Lee they supported, Gwangju citizens were united in their unhappiness over the dearth of prominent DP lawmakers from their own city.

"You hardly notice any lawmakers from Gwangju," said 56-year-old Lee Myung-geun, who leads an association of dried fish merchants in Yongdong Market. "They are too weak."

"It's crazy that a PPP lawmaker took a drink out of a tank in a market," Lee said, referring to PPP Rep. Kim Young-sun.

Kim recently drank a scoop of water at Noryangjn Fish Market in response to DP calls for officials to drink water from the Fukushima plant if it's as safe as they claim.

“But no DP politicians from Gwangju are fighting hard with life-and-death determination,” Lee said.

Frustration with Gwangju's DP lawmakers appeared in a survey of the city's residents conducted between June 23 and 24.

Only 12.3 percent said they would vote for incumbents, while 60.3 percent said they will pull the lever for a fresh face.

In the last general election, all eight districts in the city voted for a DP candidate.

However, other parties are trying to make inroads as support for the DP weakens.

Former DP lawmaker Keum Tae-sup created his own party after he left the party over the DP’s push to create an independent investigative office against high-level corruption in 2020.

He criticized the two biggest parties — the PPP and DP — during a press conference held at Gwangju's government office on July 4.

“The PPP is corrupt and the DP is incompetent,” Keum said. “We need a new force.”

Yang Hyang-ja, an independent who left the DP over the party’s push to enact a law limiting the prosecutors’ scope of investigation in 2021, recently started her own party as well.

Yang’s constituency is Gwangju Seo District.

Keum and Yang are hoping to replicate the success of Ahn Chul-soo's People Party and its success in Gwangju in 2016 after the former co-head of the DP left the party.

Ahn's party won 16 of the 18 seats from Gwangju and South Jeolla.

However, Gwangju residents doubt the two new parties have much of an impact.

“One could tell from the political paths that these people [Keum and Yang] have taken,” said a shop owner in his 50s who declined to give his name. “They have created their own party because [the DP] won't nominate them.”

“Ahn Chul-soo was the third-party candidate I supported most,” a taxi driver said. “But they switch parties so often. Now I hate them all.”

Though Gwangju backed Ahn and his People Party seven years ago, Ahn joined the PPP and threw his support behind Yoon in the last presidential race.

Polls, polls, polls The DP's infighting goes beyond Lee Jae-myung.

Former party chief Song Young-gil faces allegations that his campaign bribed its way to victory in the party's 2021 convention, while former DP lawmaker Kim Nam-kuk is accused of shady cryptocurrency dealings.

These controversies, too, are eroding Gwangju's support for the DP.

Indeed, the city's residents are expressing their contempt by staying home on election day.

In the local election last June, Gwangju had the lowest voter turnout in the country at 37.7 percent.

“Even when the DP controlled the government [during the Moon administration], it produced few significant results. And today, the party has become lethargic,” said a Gwangju political insider. “That is why locals have expressed themselves by refusing to vote.”

He added that if voter turnout continues to fall, even the PPP could sneak a win in the city in next year’s election.

In fact, if the PPP follows through with President Yoon's campaign pledge to get a major retailer like Shinsegae and Lotte to open a shopping mall in Gwangju, the party just might have a chance.

Gwangju is the only major city in the country without a mega mall.

“I have been to Starfield in Hanam [Gyeonggi],” said a taxi driver Lee. “Gwangju is a much bigger city, yet we don't have a single venue of its kind.”

The DP has started to take notice of the dwindling support from its stronghold.

During a DP meeting on Wednesday, Choi Rak-do, the head of the party’s committee on senior citizen affairs, said the erosion of support in Gwangju and the nearby Jeolla provinces was a serious problem.

“The party must draw up strategies for the regional committees and monitor the situation,” he said.

The party's problems aside, the latest national poll conducted by Gallup Korea indicated the DP is still the heavy favorite in next year's general election.

According to the survey results released Friday, 50 percent of the 1,000 respondents said they plan to vote for a non-PPP candidate. Only 38 percent said they would vote for a candidate from the PPP, the party of the current president.

Only in March did the gap significantly narrow, when support for non-PPP candidates was at 44 percent and PPP candidates at 42 percent.

Observers say the poll results reflect the desire of independent voters to check the government in power.

On the other hand, support for the two parties is neck-and-neck; 33 percent for the PPP and 32 percent for the DP.

While support for the PPP remained unchanged from the previous week, support for the DP dropped 2 percentage points despite efforts to rally support over the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant issue.

BY WI MUN-HEE, LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]