President Lee Jae-myung pushed back on the 19th against the People Power Party's accusation that he had interfered in party affairs over a dispute concerning candidate deposits for the Democratic Party of Korea's national convention, saying, "When issuing critical commentary, it would be good to have at least a minimum of common sense."
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, that evening, the president wrote, "A public party cannot fail to distinguish between party elections and public office elections." He criticized, "That is as serious a problem as being unable to distinguish between state affairs and private business."
Lee stated, "A party member who is a public official getting involved in the party's public office elections = illegal interference in party affairs and a violation of election law," adding, "A party member expressing opinions on the internal party leadership elections of the party they belong to = lawful and legitimate party activity." He then said of the opposition party, "With that level of competence, it would be difficult to manage state affairs."
According to media reports cited in the post, the People Power Party argued that Lee's request via X that day — asking that a plan be considered to restore the Democratic Party's leadership election deposits to their previous level — constituted "clear interference in party affairs."
People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok wrote on Facebook that day, "Anyone can see this is interference in party affairs, yet he insists it is not." He continued, "It means others cannot do it, but if I do it, it's fine." Choi Bo-yoon, the People Power Party's chief spokesperson, also criticized, "By directly bringing up the issue of the Democratic Party's national convention election deposits, he effectively handed down a guideline."
