Chungcheong Delegate Voting Begins Amid Turmoil Over Shincheonji Allegations

[Anchor]

The Democratic Party has kicked off its main primary voting for party leadership, starting with the Chungcheong region. While candidates are busy courting party members, the party remains in a state of turmoil as suspicions surface regarding the mass enrollment of Shincheonji members.

Reporter Kim Kwan-jin has the details.

[Reporter]

The Democratic Party is holding online voting today (July 28) and tomorrow for ordinary party members in the Chungcheong region regarding the party leadership candidates.

Seemingly keeping this schedule in mind, candidate Chung Chung-rae visited Sejong, while candidate Song Young-gil headed to Cheongju in North Chungcheong Province today to rally support from the party base.

Candidate Kim Min-seok headed to Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, to prepare for the Gyeongsang region primary scheduled for August 2.

Within the Democratic Party, controversy continues over the "Shincheonji mass party member enrollment allegations" initially raised by candidate Kim.

[Kim Min-seok / Democratic Party Leadership Candidate (July 21): I believe that breaking the secret tripartite alliance of anti-Myung forces, factionalism, and Shincheonji is the essence of this national convention.]

Pledging to present evidence for the allegations, candidate Kim maintained that the issue has now entered the public domain and urged cooperation with the investigation into Shincheonji.

However, after the Joint Prosecution-Police Investigation Headquarters released an explanatory statement today stating that "it has not been confirmed that Shincheonji at the general assembly level systematically forced its members to join the Democratic Party," candidate Chung directly attacked candidate Kim, asking, "Is this a baseless, 'throw mud and see what sticks' conspiracy theory?" He added, "The aftermath of attacking the party will be proven by the judgment of the party members."

[Chung Chung-rae / Democratic Party Leadership Candidate (Yesterday, YouTube's 'Choi Wook's Maebul Show'): I think he attacked the party and attacked its members. If this was a baseless and preposterous claim, the person responsible should be disciplined.]

In response, an official from candidate Kim Min-seok's camp said, "It was meaningful as a warning message to ensure that the national convention reflects the genuine will of the party members in an upright manner."

Voices of concern are growing within the Democratic Party over the ruling party's national convention turning into a "Shincheonji war" due to excessive overheating.

(Video filming: Oh Young-chun, Kim Yong-woo | Video editing: Nam Il | Design: Seo Seung-hyun, Lee So-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.