Chaos in the DP over the committee head

The innovation committee of the Democratic Party (DP) has turned into a nuisance instead of reforming the majority party. At the center of the crisis is Kim Eun-kyung, the committee chair. She provoked controversy with her derogatory remarks about the older generation. “Is it really fair to give one vote to each senior citizen even when they don’t have much time left?” asked the former law professor.

She apologized four days later. But in the meantime, another controversy erupted over her remarks that she has taken care of her father-in-law and mother-in-law for 18 years since her husband’s death in 2005. After her sister-in-law denied it, she refuted it.

Kim’s slip of the tongue is not new. Earlier, she blamed the prosecution for cooking up the evidence for cash handouts to DP lawmakers ahead of the 2021 national convention to elect a new party leader. She even compared first-term lawmakers to students during the pandemic, citing their “lack of learning abilities.” After her repeated improper words, the DP began to deny the raison d’être of the innovation committee.

After returning from his vacation, DP leader Lee Jae-myung expressed regrets about Kim’s off-track comment about the elderly. But the responsibility falls on Lee, as he recruited her as head of the innovation committee to help win the next parliamentary elections in April. Her predecessor also resigned over his past claim that the Cheonan warship sank on its own, not from North Korea’s torpedo attack. If this confusion continues, party members would not accept any recommendation from the committee.

The DP will face cold public opinion if the pro-Lee faction and the faction not loyal to Lee are fighting to have the upper hand in nominations for the next election. After three election defeats, the DP is still grappling with tough challenges — the judicial risks involving Lee, the cash handouts to elect a new party leader, and the repeated cryptocurrency trading by its former member during legislative sessions. If another request for an arrest warrant for Lee is submitted to the National Assembly in mid-August, the party leader will face another critical leadership test.

The leadership of the DP must present extraordinary measures to recover public trust if it really wants to win the next parliamentary elections. Even after a DP lawmaker was arrested for his role in the cash handouts — and after the names of potential recipients of the money were unveiled on news media — the progressive party keeps mum or denying the suspicion. If the DP dilly-dallies on punishing Rep. Kim Nam-kook, the cryptocurrency trader during standing committee meetings, it will even lose its own vote base. The clock is ticking to make a decision.