Clash over Shincheonji Allegations: "Disclose It" vs. "Fine, Disclose It"

[Anchor]

The Democratic Party leadership has clashed over whether to make public the findings of an internal investigation into allegations of collective party enrollment by members of the Shincheonji religious sect. The faction aligned with former leader Jung Cheong-rae ramped up pressure on Party Leader Kim Min-seok, who initially raised the suspicions, demanding that he disclose the investigation results and take responsibility if the claims prove groundless.

Reporter Park Jae-yeon reports.

[Reporter]

At the Democratic Party Supreme Council meeting held yesterday (October 23),

Supreme Council member Lee Sung-yoon, aligned with the pro-Jung Cheong-rae faction, fired the opening salvo.

[Lee Sung-yoon / Democratic Party Supreme Council Member: "Now, the results of the investigation into the allegations of Shincheonji's involvement, which divided our party and hurt our party members, must be disclosed as they are to the public and party members."]

During the Democratic Party national convention in August, Party Leader Kim Min-seok, running as a candidate at the time, raised suspicions of a so-called "secret tripartite alliance of anti-Myung, divisionism, and Shincheonji."

This was interpreted as effectively targeting the pro-Jung faction, but the findings investigated by an internal party task force since then have only been reported to Leader Kim and remain undisclosed.

The pro-Jung faction essentially stepped forward to demand, "Disclose the results, and take responsibility if they were groundless allegations."

Then, Supreme Council member Park Sun-won, affiliated with the pro-Myung faction and head of the task force, suddenly chimed in:

[Park Sun-won / Democratic Party Supreme Council Member: "Fine. Disclose it."]

Supreme Council member Han Min-soo from the pro-Jung faction responded with visible displeasure.

[Han Min-soo / Democratic Party Supreme Council Member: "Please focus while someone is speaking."]

[Park Sun-won / Democratic Party Supreme Council Member: "Party Leader, I will disclose it. As the task force leader, I will take responsibility and do it under my authority."]

This time, an atmosphere followed where Leader Kim appeared visibly flustered.

Following a closed-door meeting, the Democratic Party leadership decided for now not to release the results immediately.

[Park Sung-joon / Democratic Party Senior Spokesperson: "Haven't we re-entered a phase where we need to deliberate and debate again?"]

However, former leader Jung Cheong-rae and pro-Jung Supreme Council member Choi Min-hee successively took to social media to pressure Leader Kim's camp, posting messages such as "Disclose everything as it is" and "If there is no evidence, state truthfully that there is none."

With internal divisions already escalating over the appointment of Kim Ji-yong as head of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency and conflicting views widening over the push to impeach Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, the issue of disclosing the Shincheonji investigation findings has emerged as another spark fueling party strife.

(Video by Oh Young-choon and Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing by Jeon Min-gyu)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.