Two senior Democratic Party of Korea officials have been forcibly expelled from President Lee Jae-myung's flagship fan community.
The official manager of "Jaemyeong-ine Maeul" (Jaemyeong's Village) announced on the 22nd that a vote on expelling Party Representative Chung Chung-rae and Supreme Council Member Lee Sung-yoon resulted in 81% approval (1,001 votes) against 18.7% opposition (230 votes) out of 1,231 total votes cast. The two officials will be permanently banned from rejoining the community.
The manager claimed Chung and Lee had repeatedly caused internal party discord by clashing with President Lee's policy direction. Reasons cited for expulsion included Chung's proposed merger with the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, the "one person, one vote" system controversy, and disputes over special prosecutor candidate recommendations related to the "Ssangbangwool defense attorney" case.
"He once proclaimed 'Lee Jae-myung is Chung Chung-rae, Chung Chung-rae is Lee Jae-myung,' but his actions have repeatedly contradicted his words," the manager wrote.
Regarding Lee Sung-yoon, the manager cited the special prosecutor nomination controversy and surveillance allegations that emerged during the Central Committee vote on the one-person-one-vote system.
"We can no longer tolerate a party representative who creates discord and takes no responsibility, who dismisses our calls for resignation as mere barking, and who compounds the chaos by appointing Lee Sung-yoon to head the special committee responding to politically motivated prosecutorial indictments," the manager stated.
Jaemyeong-ine Maeul was established on March 10, 2022, the day after Lee Jae-myung's narrow defeat to former President Yoon Suk-yeol in the 20th presidential election. The community currently has approximately 207,000 members. Originally named "Lee Jae-myung Gallery Fan Cafe," it later adopted the name from Lee's official campaign website.
The manager also referenced "Ddanzi Ilbo," a media outlet run by pro-liberal YouTuber Kim Eo-jun. "The party representative speaks as if Ddanzi represents public sentiment, while Ddanzi supporters demonize Democratic Party lawmakers and focus solely on defending the party leader," the manager claimed.
"They once frequented this community shamelessly, writing countless posts to win our support, but cut ties after facing criticism during the last party leadership election," the manager added. "You used our community when it suited you—is it sweet to swallow and bitter to spit out? Do you think our supporters are such easy marks?"