Democratic Party of Korea's First-Term Lawmakers Also Turn Against Choi Min-hee ... Calls for Severe Discipline and Voluntary Departure From the Party

[Financial News] The Mincho, a group of first-term lawmakers of the Democratic Party of Korea, will hold an emergency meeting on the 15th over the controversy surrounding Supreme Council member Choi Min-hee. Although Choi apologized for remarks concerning President Lee Jae Myung, conflict appears to be widening within the party, where calls for severe disciplinary action and even voluntary departure from the party are being raised.
The Mincho's steering committee plans to hold an emergency video meeting that evening to discuss how to respond to Choi. Members are expected to exchange views on the level of response, including calls for severe disciplinary action and demands that she leave the party voluntarily.
One lawmaker from The Mincho said, “There is a feeling that Choi has gone too far,” and stated that severe disciplinary action was inevitable.
The lawmaker particularly criticized Choi for describing photographers and video journalists who cover the National Assembly as “a pack of hyenas,” saying, “It was a serious verbal gaffe directed at the entire media, and it also harmed the party's image.”
The lawmaker also criticized Choi for mentioning, at a meeting with local party members, President Lee's past position on the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, saying, “She made false claims about the president and then offered a dishonest excuse that did not add up,” and adding, “Given that she is attacking party leader Kim Min-seok rather than apologizing, it seems difficult to work with her.”
Meanwhile, some within the party are urging caution. Another first-term lawmaker emphasized that party sentiment and members' wishes should be taken into account as a whole, saying, “Expulsion or severe disciplinary action is not the only way to restore discipline.”
Earlier, after Choi's remarks concerning President Lee became public, party leader Kim Min-seok ordered the party's Ethics Inspection Unit to investigate on the 12th. In response, figures aligned with Jung Chung-rae objected to Kim's allegations of a “secret alliance among anti-Lee forces, divisive elements and Shincheonji,” and pushed back on the grounds that Kim himself should instead be investigated.
In a Facebook post that day, Choi apologized, saying, “I caused the president trouble with a lapse of memory and confused remarks.” She also said that “the controversy over an alleged secret alliance involving anti-Lee forces, factionalism and Shincheonji (anti-Lee, divisionism and Shincheonji) is separate from my own mistake,” and called for the truth to be established and those responsible to be held accountable.

[email protected] Kim Kyung-min Reporter