The Transformation of the Democratic Party into the ‘Lee Jae-myeong Party’: A Closer Look at Faction Dynamics

View largerLee Jae-myung, then governor of Gyeonggi Province, is giving an acceptance speech at a joint speech held at the SK Olympic Handball Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul after being elected as the Democratic Party of Korea’s presidential candidate on October 10, 2021. As far as Dong-A Ilbo DB remembers, until the beginning of the 21st National Assembly, that is, until the last presidential election, the Democratic Party of Korea was a very talkative and noisy party. First of all, because there were so many people, there were many factions and meetings within them that banded together.

It’s been a while since I looked back at the Democratic Party faction classification I had recorded for 2020-2021, and there were nearly 10 factions and groups within the party. (Of course, it is different from the current faction because the new betrayal and disownment were rampant)

① Moon Jae-in from the Blue House = Go Min-jeong, Kim Young-bae, Yoon Geon-yeong, Yoon Young-chan, Jeon Hae-cheol, Jeong Tae-ho, Han Byeong-do, etc.
②Pro-Lee Hae-chan = Kim Seong-hwan, Kim Tae-nyeon, Yun Ho-jung, Hae-sik Lee, Jo Jung-sik, etc.
③Pro-Roh Moo-hyun and pro-Moon Moon from the participatory government = Kim Jong-min, Kim Han-jeong, Lee Gwang-jae, Jeon Jae-su, Hong Young-pyo, etc.
④Pro-government bacteria = Kim Kyo-heung, Kim Young-joo, Ahn Gyu-baek, Lee Won-wook, etc.
⑤Pro-Lee Nak connection = Seol-hoon, Lee Gae-ho, Jeon Hye-sook, etc.
⑥Better Future, Movement Rights, People’s Opinion Coalition = Kang Hoon-sik, Song Gap-seok, Woo Won-sik, Woo Sang-ho, Lee In-young, In-jae Geun In, etc.
⑦Pro-Park Won line = Ki Dong-min, Kim Won-i, Park Hong-geun, Cheon Jun-ho, etc.
⑧Pro-Lee Jae-myeong group=Kim Byeong-wook, Kim Young-jin, Lee Gyu-min, Jeong Seong-ho, etc.
⑨Inscription/Non-mainstream=Park Yong-jin, Byun Jae-il, Lee Sang-min, Jo Eung-cheon, etc.
⑩The Mincho = Meeting of first-time lawmakers including Ko Young-in

Naturally, various claims and voices emerged from all over, and it seems that there were a lot of arguments and troubles not only at the general assembly of lawmakers, but also at high-ranking party and government meetings (party-government-Blue House) and party-government consultations. Whenever rumors of conflict arise, the leadership says, “A healthy political party is not in perfect order. They were busy trying to resolve the issue by saying, “Diverse voices are democracy.” At the time, I thought such conflicts and troubles were bad, but now, looking at ‘Lee Jae-myung’s Democratic Party’, I think those times were better.

You can tell just by looking at that list, but at the beginning of the 21st National Assembly, Lee Jae-myung’s group was a fringe of the fringes.

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I think this is the process by which the once noisy Democratic Party becomes the ‘Lee Jae-myeong Party’ where everyone shuts up and becomes quiet.

Reporter Kim Ji-hyeon [email protected]

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