Democratic Party to Report Shincheonji Probe Results to Lawmakers Next Week; Pro-Jung Faction Urges "No More Delays"

▲ Democratic Party Chairman Kim Min-seok speaks during a Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly on October 30.

The Democratic Party of Korea has decided to report the findings of its internal investigation into allegations of Shincheonji's involvement to its general meeting of lawmakers as early as early November.

The move effectively finalizes the schedule after lawmakers aligned with former party leader Jung Cheong-rae repeatedly made public calls demanding the release of the party's investigation results regarding suspected party membership registrations by Shincheonji followers.

Meeting with reporters on the morning of October 30 after the Supreme Council meeting, Democratic Party chief spokesperson Park Sung-joon addressed a question regarding the timing of the report to lawmakers on the Shincheonji allegations. "Since the next plenary session is scheduled for November 5, a general meeting of lawmakers will likely be held before then, on November 3 or 4," Park said. "A report on the Shincheonji findings is scheduled to be delivered at that time."

Earlier, Supreme Council member Lee Sung-yoon, an ally of Jung, said during the public council meeting that day, "The Shincheonji allegations must not be delayed any longer," adding, "They are only inflating suspicions by leaking them to the press as if there were something, while not disclosing any actual evidence."

Chief spokesperson Park responded, "It was clearly stated that the results would be reported to the general meeting of lawmakers, so I do not understand why Supreme Council member Lee made such remarks."

Democratic Party Chairman Kim Min-seok raised allegations during the August 17 national convention regarding a so-called "three-way secret alliance" between "anti-Lee factions, divisiveness, and Shincheonji," and launched a task force to investigate the matter after being elected.

The task force announced on October 13 that its internal probe had confirmed circumstances of Shincheonji members joining the party. Kim said at the time, "It has been confirmed that there were collective enrollments to a considerable extent, and we have also accumulated quite meaningful testimonies in addition to that."

Since then, former leader Jung Cheong-rae, who competed against Kim in the national convention, along with his faction, has been pressing the party leadership daily to disclose the investigation results "as they are."

(Photo: Yonhap News)

※