South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok apologized publicly Friday, saying an internal party investigation found no evidence that Shincheonji followers colluded with lawmakers to join the party and sway its Aug. 17 leadership vote.
At the party’s Supreme Council meeting, Kim addressed members and others hurt by his remarks. “I once again offer my apologies,” he said, referring to concerns he had raised about religion influencing politics during the party convention. Yonhap reported that Kim had apologized to lawmakers in a closed-door meeting earlier in the week.
Kim’s allegation, first made in July, was that followers of Shincheonji Church of Jesus had coordinated with Democratic Party lawmakers to enter the party and affect the leadership vote. Yonhap said the remarks concerned lawmakers outside President Lee Jae Myung’s camp and were widely viewed as aimed at former Democratic Party leader and lawmaker Jung Chung-rae. Jung and lawmakers aligned with him rejected the accusation as groundless and politically motivated, Yonhap reported.
Kim said the internal review found no evidence to support his claim, but the party’s findings are not public. The party will not publish the inquiry’s conclusions, according to EconoTimes’ earlier account of its decision to keep the findings private. Aju Press reported Friday that lawmakers were reviewing the findings confidentially through Nov. 13; the results had not been made public.
The opposition People Power Party (PPP) called for prosecutors and police to conduct a joint investigation, pointing to an earlier probe over alleged mass recruitment of Shincheonji members into the party. Yonhap reported that the earlier investigation found about 56,000 church members had been forced to join the PPP.
Kim said the party would handle the matter internally. He also said he would focus on rebuilding party cohesion and improving people’s livelihoods, Yonhap reported.
