'Reported figure of 30,000–50,000 members joining is not accurate'
'Lawmaker preparing bill to use AI to screen out dual party membership'
'Decision on referral to investigators to follow parliamentary audit'
Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok said Wednesday that witnesses have come forward in connection with allegations that Shincheonji church members systematically interfered in the party's primary election during the Aug. 7 national convention.
Speaking on the YouTube program "Minti07" that morning, Kim was asked whether testimony had been secured to support the possibility of organized primary interference — separate from the alleged mass enrollment of Shincheonji members. "There are testimonies," he said. He declined to elaborate on the specifics, saying it would be better to "compile everything more thoroughly and find an appropriate occasion" to share the details.
On the allegations of mass enrollment by Shincheonji members, Kim said the party had "confirmed that a considerable degree of collective membership registration took place" and had also "accumulated a significant body of meaningful testimony."
"Whether it is a religious person or anyone else, what can you do about someone joining on their own?" he said. "But it is an entirely different matter if there was an organized element to it, or if instructions were given to engage in political activity in an organized way during the primary period."
Kim also raised the possibility of institutional reform to address the problem of dual party membership. He noted that with membership rosters not publicly available, it was unclear whether resolving the issue was "realistically possible" without individuals voluntarily withdrawing their duplicate memberships. "There are also those who say the only way to resolve it may be through a campaign," he added.
He then said he had heard Tuesday that a lawmaker in the party with expertise in AI and related technology was preparing a bill that would adopt a technical method to screen out dual party membership. "These issues need to be sorted out one by one," he said.
The Democratic Party had earlier formed a task force led by Supreme Council member Park Seon-won to investigate the allegations of mass Shincheonji enrollment and primary interference during the convention. Kim said the party leadership had reported that the TF had confirmed "a considerable degree of collective membership registration" through its investigation and had accumulated meaningful testimony.
He pushed back, however, on reports that between 30,000 and 50,000 Shincheonji members had joined the party, saying the figures were "an estimate arrived at through one verifiable method, not through a formal investigation," and that "the numbers reported are not accurate."
Kim said decisions on how widely to disclose the investigation's findings and whether to refer the matter to prosecutors would be made after further discussion. "The supreme council has only heard reports so far — we have not yet been able to verify them through mutual questioning or debate," he said. "We need to discuss whether to make this public at a general assembly of lawmakers and what to do about the investigation question."
He added that the party would proceed "very carefully and cautiously with the whole party in mind," but said that because the recurrence of such problems — or the fear of it — "could be an even bigger issue," the party would "disclose as much as can be disclosed and sort out what can be sorted out" through this process.
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