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Chungcheong Delegate Voting Begins Amid Turmoil Over Alleged Shincheonji Involvement

Kim Kwan-jin

Published : Jul 29, 2026 1:44 AM

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The Democratic Party has kicked off its main primary voting for party leadership, starting with the Chungcheong region. While candidates are campaigning to secure party members' votes, the atmosphere has been thrown into turmoil by suspicions regarding Shincheonji church members joining the party.

Reporter Kim Kwan-jin has the story.

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

Reflecting this schedule, candidate Jung Chung-rae visited Sejong, while candidate Song Young-gil headed to Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, today to rally party support.

Candidate Kim Min-seok traveled to Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, in preparation for the Gyeongsang region primary scheduled for August 2.

Inside the Democratic Party, internal controversy continues over the "alleged mass enrollment of Shincheonji members" initially raised by candidate Kim.

[Kim Min-seok / Democratic Party Leadership Candidate (on July 21): Breaking the secret three-way alliance of anti-Myung forces, factionalism, and Shincheonji is the essence of this national convention.]

Candidate Kim, who previously pledged to provide evidence for the allegations, maintains that the issue has now entered the public sphere and calls for cooperation with an investigation into Shincheonji.

However, after the joint prosecution-police investigation headquarters issued an explanatory statement today stating that "no evidence has been confirmed that the Shincheonji leadership systematically forced party enrollment in the Democratic Party," candidate Jung directly criticized candidate Kim, asking, "Is this just another baseless, irresponsible conspiracy theory?" and adding, "The consequences of attacking the party will be proven by the judgment of the party members."

[Jung Chung-rae / Democratic Party Leadership Candidate (yesterday, on YouTube show "Choi Wook's Maebul Show"): I think this was an attack on the party and an attack on the party members. If these were groundless and absurd claims, the person responsible should be disciplined.]

Regarding this, an associate of candidate Kim Min-seok said, "It was meaningful as a warning message to ensure that the party members' votes are properly reflected in the national convention."

Within the Democratic Party, growing voices of concern are criticizing the ruling party's national convention for turning into a "Shincheonji war" amid rising tensions.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Video reported by Oh Young-chun and Kim Yong-woo | Video edited by Nam Il | Design by Seo Seung-hyun and Lee So-jung)

※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.