DP chief rejects resignation demands, denies nomination allegations

Lawmakers question the government over various policies at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Thursday. [YONHAP]

Liberal Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung on Thursday rejected calls for his resignation as he denied accusations that he is excluding lawmakers not aligned with him being nominated as the party's candidates in the April general election.

Internal tensions over the party’s nomination process have begun to boil over in recent days after several DP lawmakers who are not part of Lee’s dominant faction said the party had ranked them in the bottom 20 percent in terms of legislative activity.

Their lower score will count against them when they compete with other primary hopefuls.

These lawmakers have accused the party of trying to rig its nomination process to sideline members who are deemed insufficiently loyal to Lee from running for the election.

But Lee has rejected the accusations, telling reporters that the party’s nomination process is intended to “select competitive candidates according to reasonable criteria.”

He added that “complaints always arise in a competition because how people assess themselves does not always correlate to how others evaluate them.”

He also dismissed calls for his resignation, saying that “if the party leader has to resign over matters like this, we would end up having to replace the leader all year round.”

Lee’s comments came as his party and the rival People Power Party (PPP) held a heated debate in the National Assembly the same day over various policy issues, foreshadowing fierce competition as both parties vie to win a parliamentary majority in the April election.

During the legislature’s questioning of government ministers, PPP lawmaker Kim Byong-wook accused the DP of “playing with fire” by deciding to ally with the minor Progressive Party, which the PPP has characterized as the successor to the Unified Progressive Party (UPP), for the election.

The UPP was disbanded by the Constitutional Court in 2014 after several of its members were convicted of plotting an insurrection to aid North Korea in the event of armed hostilities.

“The DP is playing with fire by summoning members of an unconstitutional, pro-North party back to the National Assembly,” Kim said.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who attended the session as the highest-ranking representative of the government, said that he “trusts the people to make a wise decision” when they head to the polls.

Meanwhile, DP lawmaker Song Kap-seok criticized President Yoon Suk Yeol for failing to “express any regret” over allegations that first lady Kim Keon Hee received a luxury Dior bag from a Korean American pastor in 2022.

“As a public figure, Kim has been continuously engulfed in numerous controversies and allegations and failed to foster public trust,” Song said.

The DP lawmaker also called on the president to approve a special counsel probe bill into allegations that the first lady was involved in manipulating the stock prices of BMW car dealer Deutsch Motors.

“None of the suspicions [against Kim] have been resolved because she has been shielded by the president, the government, and the PPP,” Kim said.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]