Democratic Party Leaders Clash Over Rejected Youth Supreme Council Seat

The leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea traded barbs over the rejection of a proposal to establish an elected youth supreme council member position at the August 17 party convention. Supreme council members from the faction loyal to Lee Jae-myung fiercely criticized the faction loyal to Chung Chung-rae, saying they "put factional interests first." The pro-Chung faction countered that the other side "proposed a plan that was impossible from the outset and then threw a tantrum."

Hwang Myung-sun, a Democratic Party supreme council member from the pro-Lee faction, criticized the outcome at a party supreme council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 15th. "The elected youth supreme council member system ultimately failed to clear the supreme council meeting and was scrapped. It is shameful and devastating," he said. "How can you talk about the party's future while rejecting even the minimum system of placing young people's voices at the center of the party?" Targeting the pro-Chung faction, he said, "Rather than putting factional interests first, wouldn't it be appropriate to lead the way in supporting and endorsing this?" He fiercely criticized them, adding, "Those who joined in the decision to shake off the hands of young people have no right to speak about party membership requirements or the party's future."

Supreme council member Kang Deuk-gu also said, "I am deeply sorry to young party members and young people," and stated, "The youth supreme council member is not a matter of party interests and strategy, but truly the spirit of the times." Kang said, "I want to ask the supreme council members who voted it down what was more important than the party's future." He raised his voice, saying, "A few supreme council members voted it down, so we could not move even one step forward, but this party convention must be a turning point to correct the wrongs and restore trust in the party."

Park Kyu-hwan, a supreme council member from the pro-Chung faction, mounted a determined rebuttal as criticism poured in. "To introduce the youth supreme council member system, prerequisite procedures such as amending the party constitution and regulations must be carried out," he said. "Right before candidate registration, they proposed a plan that was impossible from the outset and then throw a tantrum about not being accepted." Park said, "How many days are there to register as a candidate and prepare for a campaign? Unless you are effectively a full-time politician or YouTuber who has already completed all preparations for candidate registration, it would be impossible." He pointed out, "This is something that makes no sense at all unless there is some political intent behind it."

Hwang and Park also engaged in a verbal clash after the supreme council meeting ended. When Hwang said, "The party regulations could have been amended within a week," Park raised his voice, replying, "You should have said from the beginning that we should amend the party constitution and regulations. You never said a word about it, and now you're saying something different."

Earlier, at a closed-door supreme council meeting on the 14th, the Democratic Party's supreme council voted down a proposal to elect one of the five elected supreme council member seats as a youth supreme council member. Regarding this, the National Party Members' Convention Preparatory Committee presented a supplementary opinion, senior spokesperson Kang Jun-hyeon said, recommending that "the leadership elected at this party convention immediately appoint one appointed supreme council member as a youth supreme council member upon taking office, and institutionalize the youth supreme council member system through amendment of the party constitution and regulations."