Ex-Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon bolts from DP to create new party

Lee Nak-yon, a former chief of the liberal Democratic Party (DP), declared he would leave the party to create a new one on Thursday, citing disillusionment with the current state of the DP.

Lee Nak-yon, center, a former prime minister, announces his departure from the liberal Democratic Party (DP) at a press conference at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Thursday. [NEWS1]

Lee Nak-yon, a former chief of the liberal Democratic Party (DP), declared he would leave the party to create a new one on Thursday, citing disillusionment with the current state of the DP.

"I will leave the DP, which I have been with for 24 years, and set out on a new path to serve the Republic of Korea in a new position and in a new way," Lee said in a press conference at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Thursday afternoon.

He noted that longtime party members like himself have felt estranged from the DP, revealing plans to create a new political party for those seeking alternatives ahead of the April 10 general elections.

"The DP has already become an unfamiliar home to longtime party members, such as myself," Lee said. "The spirit, values and dignity of [former presidents] Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun that the DP was proud of have disappeared, and the DP has degenerated into a one-man, bulletproof party where violent and underhand words and actions are rampant."

He said he had hoped that the "reality would improve, but instead it got worse."

There is also interest in whether the former prime minister will draw together other minor parties and trigger more defections from the DP by members who oppose Chairman Lee Jae-myung.

Lee Nak-yon's departure from the party is expected to contribute to the internal conflict within the DP, which has also suffered from Lee Jae-myung's legal woes, including alleged involvement in a land development scandal in Seongnam, Gyeonggi.

Several other DP lawmakers have left the party in recent weeks, dissatisfied with the leadership of Chairman Lee.

A group of three lawmakers of a faction against DP Chairman Lee — Reps. Cho Eung-cheon, Kim Jong-min, and Lee Won-wook — announced their defection on Wednesday, claiming they were concerned that the current party wouldn't be able to hold the Yoon administration accountable for any of its flaws.

During Thursday's press conference, former Prime Minister Lee indicated he would work with these three lawmakers to create a new party based on "principles and common sense."

Lee called for a multiparty system, saying the country needs to "break from the current two-party monopoly political structure, in which the two major incompetent and corrupt parties continue to fight to the extreme."

He said this new party would advocate for "politics without privilege," calling out a government that "wields the sword of the prosecution" and exercising presidential vetoes, referring to the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, and "bulletproofing with the majority party's number of parliamentary seats," referring to the DP, which holds a supermajority in the National Assembly.

"Let us only serve the people and the country," he said.

However, he avoided remarking on whether other DP members would join his new party, saying, "You can't speak carelessly about a politician's future, and the issues that need to be resolved are complex."

Lee said it was a "cowardly sin" to ignore political wrongs and pledged to "fight to prevent incompetent and corrupt politics from destroying the country."

Earlier Thursday, a group of 129 lawmakers of the DP issued a statement calling for the withdrawal of Lee's defection, saying that it is only helping out the conservative Yoon administration and his People Power Party (PPP).

This marks nearly all of the total of 164 DP lawmakers who are not in leadership positions.

"The division of the DP will only help the Yoon Suk Yeol administration," the statement read. "The DP should not be led down the path of division by the founding of another party without justification."

The lawmakers also stressed that DP Chairman Lee "was a presidential candidate who receives overwhelming support from the people and party members."

They stressed that the DP "must judge the Yoon administration in the general elections," calling on Lee Nak-yon to reconsider his path.

Regarding this statement, the former prime minister told reporters, "The DP didn't receive enough public trust not because it wasn't united, but because it didn't change."

A group of DP members from South Jeolla also strongly criticized former chief Lee's defection and plans to create a new party as a "politics of betrayal."

They urged Lee to stop forming a new party immediately, as it would only help the "incompetent" Yoon administration.

They said Lee's actions were a "betrayal aimed at the DP and its members who have protected the party with blood and sweat" and reflected "political greed with petty logic."

DP Rep. Kang Deuk-gu of the pro-Lee Jae-myung faction said that Lee Nak-yon "should retire from politics" and be "kicked out of the party," adding he was "ashamed that such a person had been our party leader."

The announcement comes one day after DP Chairman Lee Jae-myung was released from the hospital after he was stabbed in the neck on Jan. 2 during a visit to Busan.

Lee Nak-yon, a journalist-turn-politician, served as South Jeolla governor from 2014 to 2017 and prime minister during the Moon Jae-in administration from 2017 to 2020. As a former five-term lawmaker, Lee was the DP's leader from 2020 to 2021.

In October 2021, Lee Nak-yon was runner-up in a stiff primary race against Lee Jae-myung to become the DP's candidate in the 2022 presidential election.

Former Prime Minister Lee has been hinting at plans to launch a new party since last month and called on Lee Jae-myung to step down as DP chairman and agree to a joint interim leadership committee ahead of the April 10 parliamentary elections.

The two Lees held a meeting at the end of December but ultimately failed to overcome their differences, with the DP chief turning down the former prime minister's ultimatum.

Political observers point out that former Prime Minister Lee's defection could accelerate the movement toward a coalition of splinter parties to face off against the rival DP and PPP.

Lee is expected to lead this "third political zone," providing a so-called "big tent" for the minor parties and lawmakers disillusioned with the leaderships of the two major parties to band together.

Lee Jun-seok, former chairman of the PPP, also defected from the party in late December after longtime bickering with loyalists to President Yoon to launch the "New Reform Party."

When asked about the possibility of a merger with Lee Jun-seok's new party, Lee Nak-yon told reporters Thursday, "I am willing to cooperate with anyone who shares the same thoughts."

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]