Rep. Noh Jong-myeon of the Democratic Party of Korea said on the 26th that he will decide whether to leave the "Assembly of Lawmakers for Dropping Charges Against President Lee Jae-myung and Pushing for Parliamentary Investigation" (Gongchwimo) after confirming the leadership's final position.
The previous day, the Democratic Party leadership launched a "Special Committee for Parliamentary Investigation to Uncover the Truth Behind Fabricated Indictments Under the Yoon Seok-yeol Dictatorship and Drop Charges," prompting some lawmakers to announce their withdrawal from Gongchwimo. Given that Gongchwimo had become embroiled in factional conflict controversy, Noh's statement is interpreted as his intention to determine his position based on the results of the Gongchwimo steering committee meeting scheduled for that day.
"Since this is a group where joining and leaving are always open, those who want to make preemptive withdrawals can do so on their own. But please refrain from making statements that cast those who remain or are still deliberating in a strange light," Noh wrote on Facebook.
"Rep. Lee Geon-tae, who had pledged to drop the fabricated charges, traveled across the country to fulfill his promise even after losing his election—and this was before the merger controversy," he said. "I joined the group because I sympathized with these efforts, but people are busy labeling it as an anti-leadership group or 'New Lee Jae-myung faction.'"
"More than 100 people have gathered—how many different judgments and positions must there be among them? Aren't there some with political motives?" Noh said. "What matters is the common cause and whether the group is being swayed by specific positions and purposes that we cannot agree with and must be wary of."
"If we encounter inappropriate situations while calmly participating together, we can have internal debates or leave," he added. "Fortunately, without such situations arising, the party has officially accepted Gongchwimo's purpose and demands, so Gongchwimo inevitably has to deliberate on the nature of the group and whether to continue—and it is doing exactly that."
"The leadership had initially settled on maintaining parallel operations but is now reconsidering after receiving requests from several lawmakers to reconsider," he explained. "I believe participating lawmakers' positions will be determined in an orderly manner according to that decision."