Party leader candidates in the Democratic Party's August 17 national convention clashed sharply over an alleged "Shincheonji meddling." Pro-Jeong (pro-Jeong Cheong-rae) faction candidates for supreme council members expressed strong displeasure at candidate Kim Min-seok's raising of the allegations and demanded he withdraw his candidacy. Kim repeatedly raised suspicions of Shincheonji involvement while stepping back somewhat, saying, "I did not connect it to any specific candidate."
In a post on his Facebook on the 22nd, Kim wrote, "I will overcome anti-Lee sentiment, divisionism, Shincheonji, and their alliance all," adding, "I will protect the president, the party, the government and its national agenda, and desperately save everyone from Honam to Yeongnam." Lee Geon-tae, a pro-Lee (pro-Lee Jae-myung) faction candidate running in the supreme council election, said, "This national convention is a battle against Shincheonji meddling and dual party-membership holders with impure intentions," and pledged, "I will establish and operate a 'Shincheonji Convention Meddling Report Center.'"
The pro-Jeong faction pushed back fiercely. Pro-Jeong faction supreme council candidates Lee Sung-yoon, Han Min-soo, and Choi Min-hee held a press conference at the National Assembly and demanded Kim's withdrawal. They said, "He has crossed the line," and added, "If he cannot present evidence, Kim must apologize to party members and withdraw as a leader candidate."
As the backlash grew, Kim met with reporters and stepped back, saying, "I only pointed out the problems of Shincheonji's political intervention, and I don't think I need to be responsible for connecting it to any specific candidate," adding, "How the media and the parties involved think about it is not an area for which I am responsible." In response, Jeong Cheong-rae appeared on SBS's "Joo Young-jin's News Briefing" and expressed displeasure, saying, "Why throw it out in a 'take it or leave it' manner and run away when you don't even have the confidence to back it up?" He continued, "The fact that (Kim) did not mention a specific candidate is even more of a problem," and said, "The moment anyone raises involvement claims citing my name, I will take legal action by the strongest means."
Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the party at the center of the allegations, said in a statement that day, "We express deep regret over the 'Shincheonji convention meddling theory' that candidate Kim raised while mentioning our church, and we make clear that this is entirely untrue."
The convention race also saw continued cross-factional sparring over remarks by writer Yoo Si-min, who has been targeting President Lee Jae-myung day after day. On YouTube the previous day, Yoo argued that the head of the "New Lee Jae-myung" group that flowed in under Democratic Party leader Lee's system was President Lee, saying, "There is a strong possibility that (the turmoil inside and outside the party over the past six months) was orchestrated by President Lee."
Kim pushed back, saying, "The false prophecy predicting the inevitable failure of the Lee Jae-myung government will also inevitably fail this time." Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Nam-jun, a close confidant of President Lee, also said, "In the place where Professor Jin Jung-kwon stood during the Moon Jae-in government, writer Yoo now stands," calling it "an unfortunate thing."
