DP's Lee poised to tighten grip as new National Assembly kicks off

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, second from left, speaks during a general meeting of the party's lawmakers at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Thursday. [YONHAP]

The liberal Democratic Party (DP) announced a raft of new measures that appeared to strengthen leader Lee Jae-myung's control over the party as the 22nd National Assembly kicked off its four-year term on Thursday.

The party’s 175 lawmakers gathered for their first general meeting at the legislature, where DP Supreme Council member Jang Kyung-tae laid out proposed revisions to the DP’s constitution and regulations.

Although current DP rules stipulate that the party chairperson must step down one year before a presidential election if they wish to run, one of the amendments announced by Jang would allow the party leader to remain longer in the post if a nationwide election is scheduled in that period.

If DP members approve the proposed amendment, Lee could stay on as party leader beyond March 2026, even if he declares his intent to run in the 2027 presidential race, on account of local government elections scheduled to take place in May 2026.

Another amendment announced by Jang is the removal of a party regulation that mandates the suspension of members indicted on charges of bribery or corruption.

According to Jang, the current rule is “inappropriate under a dictatorial administration run by politically motivated prosecutors.”

Members of the DP have accused President Yoon Suk Yeol, a former prosecutor general, of using the state prosecution service to persecute his political rivals, including Lee, who ran unsuccessfully against Yoon in the last presidential election.

Lee was indicted last year on charges of bribery, breach of trust and corruption tied to projects that took place when he was mayor of Seongnam from 2010 to 2018 and governor of Gyeonggi from 2018 to 2021.

Jang also noted that the DP’s current constitution “does not stipulate what course of action the party should undertake in the event of a national emergency, such as a presidential vacancy,” adding that “it is necessary to supplement existing regulations in this regard.”

A DP official who spoke to the JoongAng Ilbo on condition of anonymity said that the changes announced by Jang “are intended to prepare for the possibility of Yoon’s impeachment and Lee running early in a presidential election.”

While DP chief spokesman Lee Hae-sik told reporters after the meeting that Lee plans to ask members about their thoughts regarding the proposed changes, at least one returning lawmaker told the JoongAng Ilbo that opinion canvassing would “effectively be only a formality” as “few would dare oppose Lee, who appears set to continue as the party’s leader now and into the foreseeable future.”

Chae Jin-won, a professor at the Public Governance Research Institute at Kyung Hee University, warned that the DP “is in danger of breaking its own ethical and moral standards and consolidating control over the whole party in the hands of one person” if the amendments announced by Jang are adopted.

Meanwhile, President Yoon also paid a visit to a workshop for newly elected lawmakers of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) on Thursday as the party also began preparations for the new National Assembly.

BY SOHN GUK-HEE, MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]