Kang Min-gu sent Telegram messages to Supreme Council member Park Sun-won warning of 'Jung Chung-rae forces' moving in on Rep. Kim Ki-pyo
Kim Min-seok ordered immediate dismissal after messages were captured by media cameras
Party has not disclosed an official reason for the firing
The Democratic Party of Korea dismissed Kang Min-gu, deputy chief of its ethics and inspection unit, just one day after appointing him — moments after media cameras captured him sending Telegram messages to Supreme Council member Park Sun-won expressing wariness toward allies of former party leader Jung Chung-rae over the unit's staffing.
The party announced Tuesday that Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok had ordered Kang's immediate dismissal.
The party did not disclose a specific reason for the firing. The move is widely seen as directly linked to the messages Kang sent to Park at the National Assembly that day, which reporters captured on camera and subsequently published.
The messages showed Kang raising suspicions about possible interference by figures close to Jung in the selection of additional members for the ethics and inspection unit.
In one message to Park, Kang wrote that someone was recommending another person for the deputy chief position — naming Jang In-jae and one other individual.
He then claimed that Jang, a former deputy chief under Jung, had a background as a prosecution investigator and appeared to be "moving in" on Rep. Kim Ki-pyo.
In a separate message, Kang wrote that "Jung Chung-rae's forces seem to be moving in on Rep. Kim Ki-pyo," adding that he had not received word from party headquarters to report for work and asking Park to speak to the secretary-general. "I need to get there fast and take control," he wrote. He also forwarded party rules governing the composition and operation of the ethics and inspection unit.
Rep. Kim Ki-pyo, mentioned in the messages, currently serves as head of the Democratic Party's ethics and inspection unit. Kim Min-seok appointed Kim Ki-pyo — a former prosecutor — to lead the unit on Aug. 21, and named Kang, a professor at Myongji University's industry-academic cooperation foundation, as deputy chief on Monday.
The ethics and inspection unit is a standing body that reports directly to the party leader and is responsible for investigating illegal conduct or misconduct by elected officials and senior party figures affiliated with the Democratic Party.
Jang In-jae, the former deputy chief mentioned in the messages, served in that role under Jung's leadership. He also served on the central party's candidate screening appeals committee and its candidate grievance panel during the June 3 local elections.
The episode can be read as the newly appointed Kang growing wary when a figure from the previous leadership was floated as a candidate for deputy chief as Kim Min-seok's team worked to reconstitute the ethics and inspection unit after taking over.
The disclosure of the messages prompted speculation about a resurgence of factional tensions within the party, particularly given that Kim and Jung had faced off for the party leadership just two weeks earlier. Kim won the Democratic Party leadership election on Aug. 17, securing 54.08 percent of the vote in a preferential ballot to defeat Jung, who received 45.92 percent.
Park distanced himself from the messages, saying he had no involvement. "Someone unilaterally sent those to me, and I didn't do anything," he said. "I was just sitting there when a message came in, and I looked to see what it was."
Jang also denied any involvement. "I am not involved in party affairs at all right now, so I don't really know," he said. "I haven't done anything and have nothing to do with this."
Kang did not respond to media requests for comment on the background behind the messages.
Party leadership moved swiftly to contain the fallout as the controversy grew. By dismissing Kang — appointed Monday — after just one day, the leadership appeared intent on preventing the dispute over the ethics unit's staffing from escalating into a broader factional conflict within the party.
kwater@heraldcorp.com
