'Apology over allegations involving Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony' backfires on Kim Min-seok as even allies push back after Jung Chung-rae's counterattack

[Financial News] Kim Min-seok, leader of the DPK, faced a fierce backlash despite apologizing over allegations of links to Shincheonji. After he acknowledged that he could not find evidence for the “three-way secret alliance” he had alleged during the party convention, lawmaker Jung Chung-rae went on the counteroffensive, demanding a public apology and political accountability. Even Park Sun-won, a DPK lawmaker considered one of Kim’s allies, objected to the cancellation of the presentation of the investigation’s findings.
According to political circles on the 3rd, Kim said at a closed-door party caucus that day that he had been unable to find evidence supporting the alleged “three-way secret alliance among anti-Lee forces (those opposed to Lee Jae Myung), factional forces and Shincheonji” that he had raised during the Aug. 17 party convention. While apologizing to those harmed by his claims, he did not go ahead with the planned presentation of the investigation’s findings, instead allowing only lawmakers who wished to do so to review the relevant material.
In response, Jung, who had been Kim’s rival for the party leadership at the time, told reporters after the caucus ended, “In the end, candidate Kim Min-seok’s claim that ‘breaking up the three-way secret alliance was the essence of the Aug. 17 party convention’ has collapsed.” He urged Kim to “come out publicly and apologize to party members, rather than hiding behind a closed-door caucus to say he is sorry.” He continued, “Conduct that humiliated and confused party members and put the party at grave risk is an act against the party,” and demanded that Kim “state publicly what responsibility he will take.”
The controversy began when Kim, ahead of the party convention, raised suspicions of links among anti-Lee forces within the party, divisive forces and Shincheonji, using the allegations to pressure Jung, who was then his rival for the party leadership. Some interpreted this as an attack that linked Jung’s camp to Shincheonji. But after the subsequent investigation found no evidence for a three-way secret alliance, the political responsibility for raising the allegations itself became a point of contention.
The controversy intensified further when Park Sun-won, a pro-Lee (pro-Lee Jae Myung) lawmaker close to Kim, also objected to the cancellation of the presentation of the investigation’s findings. Speaking to reporters after the caucus, Park expressed his frustration: “The party leader canceled it without even consulting me. I had everything prepared.” He went on to ask, “Shincheonji is anti-Lee, anti-DPK, and had infiltrated in an organized manner—I was going to report that. What happens to someone who has spent all this time preparing the report?” Still, he drew a distinction regarding the allegation that 6,000 Shincheonji-related party members had joined a particular local party committee, saying, “The report claiming 6,000 in one local committee is false.” 
[email protected] Jiwon Song Reporter