Jung Chung-rae, a Democratic Party of Korea candidate for party leader [Yonhap]
Jung Chung-rae, a Democratic Party of Korea candidate for party leader [Yonhap]

Factional tensions within the Democratic Party of Korea are intensifying over claims raised by party leader candidate Kim Min-seok that the Shincheonji religious group has been interfering in the party's internal affairs.

Allies of candidate Jung Chung-rae — the so-called "pro-Jung" faction — have pressed Kim to release evidence of alleged organized membership enrollment, while supporters of President Lee Jae Myung have dismissed the claims as a politically motivated attempt to spread false impressions, deepening the intraparty feud over the leadership race.

Rep. Choi Min-hee, a pro-Jung lawmaker running for a supreme council seat, wrote on Facebook on Saturday asking Kim whether he had prior knowledge of the joint investigation unit's probe into Shincheonji.

She also took issue with media reports on alleged Shincheonji enrollment in the Democratic Party. After she noted that the reported enrollment period of 2021 to 2024 would have fallen under the leadership of Lee Nak-yon and Song Young-gil, she said the articles were revised to say the enrollment had occurred around the time of the June 3 local elections.

"The joint investigation unit is now appearing in a party leadership primary, and the media is simply transcribing claims about Shincheonji infiltration around the June 3 elections — claims that don't appear to have any clear basis," Choi said. "Who is behind this?"

On Friday, Choi had joined fellow pro-Jung supreme council candidates Lee Sung-yoon and Han Min-su at a National Assembly press conference, demanding that Kim produce evidence of organized Shincheonji enrollment in the party. She warned that if no such evidence exists, he should resign and take responsibility for damaging the party's reputation.

Rep. Park Seon-won, a pro-Lee supreme council candidate, hit back on Facebook on Saturday, accusing Choi of using cognitive warfare tactics by deliberately linking the period of alleged Shincheonji enrollment in the People Power Party — 2021 to 2024 — to the names of Lee Nak-yon and Song Young-gil.

Park said those who refuse to criticize Shincheonji or Yoo Si-min, defend Cho Kuk, and yet take indirect swipes at President Lee Jae Myung represent what he called "anti-Lee factionalism."

Turning to the three lawmakers who had called for Kim's resignation at the press conference, Park said it was "truly lamentable" to see them moving as a bloc — a display of factional politics aimed at tying the president's hands and preventing him from taking any action.

Rep. Chae Hyeon-il, also aligned with the pro-Lee faction, wrote on Facebook that Kim's raising of the issue "was a crisis alert to party members aimed at blocking the organized political interference of an outside pseudo-religious group." He added that those who distorted the facts and caused confusion among members "must clearly be held accountable."


th5@heraldcorp.com