The Democratic Party of Korea will hold a hearing on the 27th regarding Homeplus, which faces the risk of bankruptcy. The move aims to intensify pressure over the Homeplus situation on MBK Partners, its largest shareholder, and Meritz Financial Group, its largest creditor.
Kang Jun-hyeon, chief spokesperson for the Democratic Party, met with reporters after a supreme council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 15th and said, "We have decided to hold a plenary meeting of the National Policy Committee tomorrow to approve the adoption of witnesses and the hearing schedule." He added, "The hearing is scheduled for the 27th. We intend to proceed even if the People Power Party does not attend."
Han Byung-do, acting Democratic Party leader and floor leader, also expressed his intention to push for the Homeplus hearing at the supreme council meeting that day, criticizing, "Despite bankruptcy proceedings being imminent, MBK and Meritz are still taking a passive attitude and focusing only on avoiding responsibility."
He continued, "Yesterday I instructed Park Sang-hyuk, secretary of the National Policy Committee, to immediately hold a hearing to thoroughly investigate the truth of this situation." He added, "The Democratic Party will do its utmost to the end in uncovering the truth, punishing those responsible, and further safeguarding workers' right to livelihood, supporting related companies, and protecting the local economy."
At the supreme council meeting that day, a proposal to introduce a preferential voting system in the party leader election at the Democratic Party's August 17 national convention was also approved. Spokesperson Kang explained, "We decided to approve the method for electing the party leader and supreme council members and refer it to the party affairs committee as an agenda item."
The supreme council also decided to refer to the party affairs committee the national convention rules related to the preliminary primary and the vote weighting for strategic regions. The Democratic Party plans to have party leader and supreme council member candidates register on the 16th and 17th, then hold a preliminary primary starting on the 21st to narrow down the field to three party leader candidates and eight supreme council member candidates.
