"No Evidence of Shincheonji Alliance"..."Make a Public Apology"

[Anchor]

Democratic Party Leader Kim Min-seok, who previously alleged during the party's leadership election that anti-Lee factions had allied with the Shincheonji religious group, apologized, saying that an investigation found no evidence. Lawmaker Jung Chung-rae, who was Kim's rival candidate and the target of the attacks at the time, pushed back strongly, declaring that he is innocent while Leader Kim is guilty.

Reporter Han Sung-hee reports.

[Reporter]

Ahead of the Democratic Party's national convention last August, Leader Kim Min-seok attacked the camp of his rival, former Leader Jung Chung-rae.

[Kim Min-seok / Democratic Party Leader (July 21): "The essence of this national convention is breaking the secret three-way alliance between anti-Lee forces, divisionism, and Shincheonji...."]

Figures aligned with Jung immediately pushed back, and after factional strife, it led to an internal party investigation to uncover the truth.

Yesterday (November 3), 105 days after raising the allegations, Leader Kim bowed his head in apology during a closed-door general meeting of lawmakers.

[Kim Seong-hoe / Democratic Party Floor Spokesperson: "The party leader very sincerely said, 'The investigation found no evidence of a secret three-way alliance. I would like to express my sincere apologies to anyone who may have unintentionally suffered harm.'"]

The announcement of the investigation results was also skipped.

[Park Sun-won / Democratic Party Supreme Council Member: "There was no report on Shincheonji."]

Lawmaker Jung Chung-rae directly attacked Leader Kim, saying he had engaged in actions harmful to the party that put it in jeopardy.

[Jung Chung-rae / Democratic Party Lawmaker: "Instead of hiding in a closed-door lawmakers' meeting and saying you are sorry, come out in public and apologize publicly to party members. In the end, party members and Jung Chung-rae are innocent, and candidate Kim Min-seok is guilty."]

Lawmakers aligned with Jung, including Han Min-soo and Lee Seong-yoon, also joined in pressuring Leader Kim via social media.

By bowing his head over the Shincheonji allegations, Leader Kim's leadership has suffered a significant blow.

The issue of merging with the Rebuilding Korea Party is expected to be the next battleground, while former Leader Jung has foreshadowed taking full-fledged action to coincide with the 100th day of Kim taking office.

Video by Oh Young-choon and Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing by Won Hyeong-hee
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.