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| Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Rep. Lee Jae-myung, left, shakes hands with President Yoon Suk Yeol during a commemoration ceremony of the 68th anniversary of the Memorial Day at Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak District, Tuesday. Yonhap |
By Nam Hyun-woo
The leadership of Rep. Lee Jae-myung, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), is once again facing doubts, as his strategy to refresh the party has failed to find a breakthrough against the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.
According to the DPK, Lee Rae-kyung, a career civil activist who was appointed to the party's special innovation committee, resigned on Monday following controversies over his past remarks. His resignation came just nine hours after the DPK chairman appointed him to lead the committee, which he said would have "the full authority" to revamp the party, putting the party's plans into disarray.
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| Lee Rae-kyung, the honorary chair of The Tomorrow, a left-leaning civic group, is seen in this undated handout photo. Courtesy of Democratic Party of Korea |
The resignation followed reports that the disgraced activist has made controversial anti-American comments, such as "there are signs that COVID-19 originated from the U.S." and the ROKS Cheonan that was sunk by North Korea's attack in 2010, has "self-destructed."
Along with the controversial remarks, his close relationship with the DPK chairman also triggered criticisms among party members over the independence of the innovation committee. The activist has been an ardent supporter of the chairman, proposing a national movement to protect him in 2019 when an appeals court annulled his governorship of Gyeonggi Province. The Supreme Court later overturned the appeals court ruling.
The innovation committee was designed to help the DPK recover following a series of scandals plaguing the party, including a cash-for-votes campaign involving former party leader Song Young-gil and a cryptocurrency scandal involving Rep. Kim Nam-kuk.
The DPK had sought to redirect public attention back to its campaign against the Yoon administration, but the committee's bumpy start, marred by the quick disgrace and resignation of its head, has thwarted these efforts.
"As he expressed his intention to resign, I decided to respect that," Rep. Lee told reporters. He said he will look for capable and trustworthy figures for the committee, but did not answer questions related to the vetting process for the activist.
Against this backdrop, the DPK's campaigns against the Yoon administration's response to the Japanese government's decision to release contaminated wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean, have become somewhat harder to achieve.
Chairman Lee visited the southeastern port city of Busan on June 3 where he criticized Yoon, saying that the president "should declare that Japan should not release the contaminated water, which pollutes our waters," but failed to draw huge public interest as the country entered a holiday period.
Also, the party on Monday launched a taskforce on the Fukushima wastewater situation to gain public attention for its campaign, but ended up being overshadowed by the resignation of the innovation committee head.
While criticizing Yoon's response to the Fukushima wastewater issue, the DPK is also setting its sights on the government's hardline stance against labor unions, dropping hints at joining the protests of the country's two largest umbrella unions.
However, this also raises questions over its feasibility, because previous surveys show that public sentiment is against large union rallies, which paralyze downtown Seoul. When Yoon said last winter that there would be no compromise with unions' illegal strikes, his job approval ratings showed noticeable rebounds.
As a consequence, calls are growing from the anti-Lee faction in the DPK for the chairman to resign.
"I have been reiterating that all of those problems are stemming from Chairman Lee's impaired leadership, and he should think again about his post," DPK Rep. Lee Sang-min said in a radio interview with broadcaster CBS, Tuesday.
"I still believe it is right for the chairman to make a prompt decision to step down, both for his own sake and for the sake of the party."
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