Song Younggil: "Shincheonji Is Destroying Party Democracy... Comprehensive Investigation and Strict Measures Needed"

Concerns over interference in opinion polls after mass enrollment
"Shincheonji and JMS members should have their party membership revoked"
Pro-Cheong faction says "the situation is not serious"

Song Younggil, a lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea, said on the 9th, regarding allegations of a mass influx of Shincheonji members into the party, “This issue must not be allowed to end in a blame game over which faction is responsible. We must not fight among ourselves over the Shincheonji issue,” adding, “This is neither a conservative-versus-liberal issue nor a partisan issue; it is a serious matter that undermines our party democracy.”

Speaking to reporters at the National Assembly immediately after reviewing the investigation materials compiled by the party membership cleanup task force (TF), Song said, “It is far too complacent to think that the organized intervention of a powerful organization (Shincheonji) in opinion polls is no big deal.”

He explained, “For example, in a primary for Gwangju mayor or Seoul mayor, the vote could be split 50-50: five points for public opinion and five points for several hundred thousand eligible party members. Imagine Shincheonji dividing people into age-based segments and instructing them to stand by, then having them respond to the opinion poll.”

Democratic Party lawmaker Song Younggil answers reporters' questions on the 9th after reviewing the findings of an investigation into allegations that Shincheonji members joined the party at the Democratic Party's secretary-general's office at the National Assembly. Yonhap News Agency

He called for an immediate, comprehensive investigation into allegations of organized mass enrollment by Shincheonji and for strict measures. Song said, “We must thoroughly determine who ordered and led the organized enrollment and whether there were any illegal acts, such as coercion or paying membership fees on behalf of others.” He added, “I believe that membership in the Democratic Party should be revoked for people affiliated with groups such as Shincheonji or JMS, regardless of whether they joined as a group.”

He also said, “Some members of our party may hold dual membership in the People Power Party or other parties.” He proposed, “The Political Parties Act should be revised to require parties that receive state subsidies through the National Election Commission to submit their membership rolls. Since this could infringe on freedom of association, the rolls could be encrypted in their entirety before submission.”

Meanwhile, lawmakers aligned with pro-Jeong Cheong-rae faction judged that the number of Shincheonji members was not at a serious level. On the same day, Choi Minhee, a 최고위원 of the Democratic Party, wrote on her social networking service (SNS), “There are some party members in the Honam region, but we judged that the situation was not serious,” adding, “We also found no evidence to substantiate claims of organized voting.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.