Pro-Chung-rae Team Absent from Vote on Appointed Supreme Council Members; Choi Min-hee Says, "I Will Monitor the Party Leader"

Friction between factions that erupted over the appointment of a youth supreme council member immediately after the launch of the Democratic Party leadership led by Leader Kim Min-seok has been patched up, but an uneasy coexistence within the leadership continues.

This is because although the motion to approve the appointed supreme council members passed in the Supreme Council after Leader Kim publicly promised to push for revisions to the party constitution and regulations so that a youth supreme council member could be elected separately in the future, the pro-Chung-rae faction, which raised issues with the appointment of the youth supreme council member, did not participate in the approval.

During a closed-door Supreme Council meeting held at the Gangneung City Hall today (the 21st), the Democratic Party resolved to appoint lawmaker Jeon Yong-jin as the youth-quota supreme council member and Kwon Mi-kyung, chairperson of the Korean Public Service and Transport Workers' Union Public Alliance, as the labor-quota supreme council member.

However, Supreme Council members Choi Min-hee, Lee Seong-yun, and Han Min-su, who belong to the pro-Chung (pro-Chung Chung-rae) faction, left without participating in the Supreme Council vote.

When reporters asked after the meeting whether the supreme council members who walked out were expressing opposition, Senior Spokesperson Park Sung-joon stated, "It should be considered as such," adding, "It was resolved by the remaining supreme council members. We have requested approval from the Party Affairs Committee."

Senior Spokesperson Park explained, "While the Secretary-General is appointed through consultation following discussions with the Supreme Council, appointing supreme council members is the exclusive authority of the leader to ensure the stability of leadership in a single collective system."

Previously, the pro-Chung faction protested when Leader Kim announced the appointed supreme council members at a general meeting of lawmakers, claiming there was no prior consultation.

In particular, Supreme Council member Choi Min-hee requested, "Leader Kim promised during the national convention period that a youth would be appointed as a supreme council member and that the selection would be made through a primary format," adding, "Please reconsider the decision."

In response, Leader Kim stated during the open Supreme Council meeting held after the approval motion was resolved that day, "I had the thought that it would be good if we could utilize the appointed quota to do so [through a selection method], but due to circumstances, it wasn't possible, so inevitably we had to appoint [supreme council members]."

He went on to promise, "It would have been ideal if a youth [supreme council member] could have been selected when choosing the five [supreme council members], but I regret that it could not happen due to internal circumstances," and added, "We will begin discussions on revising the party constitution and regulations so that youth [selection] can be reflected by the next national convention."

Following Leader Kim's remarks, the pro-Chung faction continued to keep him in check.

Supreme Council member Choi Min-hee stated, "During the national convention period, there was a discussion about mandatory quotas for youth supreme council members, and Leader Kim promised at that time to amend the party constitution and regulations so that youth supreme council members would be mandatorily allocated in subsequent conventions," adding, "Since the leader made a promise, I will monitor him to ensure he definitely keeps it."

Leader Kim and the pro-Chung faction also showed differing temperatures regarding their response to Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae's so-called written nomination issue.

During his public remarks that day, Supreme Council member Lee Seong-yun demanded, "Please actively review the push for the impeachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, who insulted President Lee Jae-myung and the people."

However, Leader Kim stated, "The issue regarding Chief Justice Cho is actually not something for the National Assembly to get excited about, but something for the judiciary to get excited about—the problem is they are not getting excited," and added, "To help the public understand how to handle the Chief Justice's wrongful behavior quickly, I ask the judiciary and judges to get a little excited."

At a general meeting of lawmakers the previous day, Leader Kim also showed a cautious stance regarding the push for impeachment, stating that while Chief Justice Cho has sufficient grounds for impeachment, time is needed to inform the public.

In relation to this, Senior Spokesperson Park met with reporters and said, "There is a need to widely inform the public about Cho Hee-dae's acts of denying democratic legitimacy."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.