DP innovation committee's final proposal gets mixed response

In less than two months since the launch of the innovation committee led by law professor Kim Eun-kyung, the committee tasked with devising plans to regain public support for Korea's largest political party has only left the party in disarray.

Kim Eun-kyung, head of the Democratic Party's innovation committee, announces the committee's final proposal to help the party regain support from voters at the National Assembly on Thursday. [YONHAP]

In less than two months since the launch of the innovation committee led by law professor Kim Eun-kyung, the seven-member committee tasked with devising plans to regain public support for Korea's largest political party has only left the party in disarray.

Since the committee announced its reform proposals for the party on Thursday, a split has emerged between the two factions within the party — those who support party leader Lee Jae-myung and those who do not, primarily consisting of the DP's old guard, including Moon Jae-in supporters.

Amidst considerable controversy, Kim unveiled the committee's final innovation proposal, which overhauls the party's leadership election system, as well as the nomination process for legislative election candidates, with the next such election set for April next year.

Overhauling convention rules One of the most contentious changes suggested by the committee pertains to the system for selecting its leadership, including the chairman.

According to the committee's proposal, party leadership positions, including the chairman, will be primarily determined by entitled party members. These individuals regularly pay their dues of 1,000 won ($0.75) per month and have more authority than general members, also known as participants.

During the party's convention for electing its chairman and leadership members, the votes of entitled party members will account for 70 percent, while the remaining 30 percent will be determined by a public poll.

This marks a significant departure from the current system, where party delegation members, including elected officials like legislators and heads of local government, as well as party regional committee members, have a role. In the current system, the votes by these elected officials account for 30 percent, while entitled party members' votes account for 40 percent, and the poll results make up 25 percent, with the remaining 5 percent coming from general members.

The innovation committee argued that this change is aimed at allowing entitled members to fully exercise their voting rights.

"The current system was established when there was a need to expand support in regions where the party lacked backing," said Seo Bok-kyung, a committee member, on Thursday. "But today, with our support base spread nationwide, there's no reason to retain the old system."

However, the committee's proposal is seen as a move that could strengthen Lee Jae-myung and his supporters' control over the party.

Within the party, the roughly 16,000 elected officials and regional committee members are outnumbered by around 1.2 million entitled party members. While the votes of the elected officials account for 30 percent of the party's election, they are considered equivalent to the 60 votes of entitled party members.

Under the new proposal, if the votes from elected officials are excluded, Lee Jae-myung could continue his leadership even while facing various legal challenges, including controversies like the Daejang-dong development scandal.

Many of the entitled party members are staunch supporters of Lee Jae-myung, who refer to themselves as "Gaettal," an acronym for "daughters of reform" in Korean. The Gaettal have been known for targeting DP politicians who opposed Lee Jae-myung's leadership, especially those seen as affecting the party's public support.

The Gaettal even criticized former President Moon Jae-in, who has had a strained relationship with Lee Jae-myung since their competition in the 2017 presidential election primaries.

President Moon, along with former Prime Minister and former party head Lee Nak-yon, both of whom competed for the party's presidential candidacy in the 2022 election, found their names on a hit list.

Polarized responses Lee Jae-myung supporters welcomed the committee's proposal, including DP Reps. Kim Yong-min and Yangyi Won-young, who urged the leadership to adopt the new voting system.

"It's absurd for a lawmaker to have a single vote that's equivalent to 60 votes of others," said Rep. Kim Yong-min during a press conference. "The committee's proposal aims to strip away privileges."

Rep. Yangyi stated that the proposal was a result of considering the future generation.

"I believe the innovation proposal seeks to leave a better future for our children through the reforms the DP can make at a time when the people are suffering due to an indifferent government," Yangyi said.

Several DP legislators expressed frustration, including Rep. Ko Min-jung, who questioned the rush to focus on the party's convention election when the primary focus should be the legislative election next year.

The Moon faction within the party released a statement, contending that the innovation committee does not understand the current system designed to reflect the opinions of regions with historically low party support, such as North and South Gyeongsang.

"This concerns the party's convention a year from now, and it's not an immediate public concern or an innovation plan for the party," said a DP official.

Several DP legislators also voiced frustration regarding comments made by committee head Kim Eun-kyung on her last day.

Kim suggested that politicians who have served multiple terms in the National Assembly should voluntarily retire for the party's sake.

Rep. Lee Sang-min, who has called for Lee Jae-myung's resignation as party leader, told Kim that she should be more concerned about her own controversies.

He also accused first-time DP legislators of causing more harm to the party.

"Are the people who were elected multiple times the ones who took bribes?" Lee said on Friday during a radio show, referring to several first-time legislators implicated by the prosecutor's office in accepting bribes during the 2021 party convention by Song Young-gil's camp.

"Did the people elected multiple times invest in cryptocurrency?" referring to Rep. Kim Nam-kuk, who left the DP amidst a cryptocurrency investment controversy that still lingers.

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Committee head faces own controversies Rep. Lee Sang-min contended that Kim Eun-kyung was not in a position to dictate what others should do.

"She should look after herself and those around her," he said.

The head of the committee was in the midst of her own controversy that started with comments she made that some older voters found offensive.

Kim mentioned a conversation she had with her son, where she agreed with his idea that a person's vote should be weighed by the remaining years of their life.

This was interpreted as suggesting that the votes of younger individuals should carry more weight than those of older voters. The ensuing backlash prompted Kim to apologize during a visit to a senior citizen advocacy group a week later.

However, this sparked another issue as her sister-in-law accused Kim of lying about supporting her late husband's parents until their passing, a claim she made during her apology.

The sister-in-law asserted that Kim was the opposite of what she claimed.

While Kim did not respond directly to the accusation, the controversy raised questions about the ethics and credibility of the DP's reform committee head.

There have been questions about whether Kim's growing involvement in scandals influenced the committee's haste in presenting its plans and ending its activities ahead of schedule. Initially, the committee was supposed to operate until the end of the month.

Lee Jae-myung has mostly remained quiet on the issue. Regarding the innovative committee's proposal, he stated that it is merely a proposal.

However, he added that he will talk with DP party members so that a "reasonable" outcome is achieved.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]