[Anchor]
Kim Min-seok, leader of the Democratic Party, stated publicly today (October 14) that circumstances pointing to a mass joining of Democratic Party membership by members of Shincheonji have been confirmed. Former leader Jung Cheong-rae, who clashed with Kim over the allegations during the party convention in August, demanded the investigation results be disclosed as they are without any tricks, firing back that "the one who evades is the culprit."
Reporter Park Jae-yeon reports.
[Reporter]
During the Democratic Party's national convention in August, pro-Myung candidate Kim Min-seok raised "suspicions of Shincheonji followers joining the Democratic Party en masse," prompting fierce pushback from the pro-Jung faction, including candidate Jung Cheong-rae.
[Kim Min-seok / Democratic Party Leader (July 21): "Breaking the secret tripartite alliance of anti-Myung forces, divisionism, and Shincheonji is the essence of this party convention."]
[Jung Cheong-rae / Democratic Party Lawmaker (August 5): "The most malicious allegation that dragged the party convention into the mud was the Shincheonji suspicion."]
Afterward, Leader Kim Min-seok directed an internal party task force to investigate the allegations, and the investigation findings were recently reported to him.
[Kim Min-seok / Democratic Party Leader (YouTube 'Minjoo TV'): "It has been confirmed that there was a considerable degree of mass enrollment, and aside from that, we have also accumulated quite meaningful testimonies."]
Leader Kim has not yet disclosed specifically how many people joined, and regarding reports by some media outlets claiming that the number of Shincheonji party members is between 30,000 and 50,000, he stated only that "they are not accurate."
The pro-Jung faction hit back, arguing that merely mentioning party sign-ups occurred without releasing accurate results is an attempt to dodge responsibility for raising the suspicions in the first place.
[Han Min-soo / Democratic Party Supreme Council Member: "If the inner truth of the turmoil cannot be properly revealed, offering an apology first is the proper course of action."]
Former leader Jung Cheong-rae also wrote on social media, "If a secret alliance exists, it should be rooted out and punished; if not, severe accountability must be held for dividing the party," adding, "The one trying to cover it up, the one who evades, is the culprit."
The Democratic Party held a closed-door Supreme Council meeting this evening, stating only that it will deliberate carefully before deciding how to handle the investigation results.
The People Power Party demanded that a special counsel investigation and search and seizure operations be conducted against the Democratic Party to get to the bottom of the allegations regarding Shincheonji members joining the party.
(Camera: Oh Young-chun, Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing: Park Seon-soo | Design: Cho Sooin)
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