Choi Minhee: "I Apologize for Causing Trouble for President Lee... Shincheonji Controversy Is Separate from My Mistake"

Apologizes over leak of recording from party-member meeting
"Calls for facts to be established by releasing the full task force report"

Choi Min-hee, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party of Korea, apologized on the 15th over controversy surrounding remarks she made at a closed-door meeting with party members, while calling for the party's so-called “alleged ties to Shincheonji” to be investigated separately.

Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers Choi Minhee, Lee Seongyun, and Han Minsu leave the press conference venue after holding a press conference on current issues at the National Assembly Communication Center on the 13th. Photo by Yoon Dongju.

In a post on Facebook, a social media platform, that morning, Choi wrote, “I caused trouble for the President with a misremembered and confusing remark. I also caused distress to party members and supporters. I sincerely apologize once again.”

She explained that she had trusted the party members when asked how her remarks at the meeting came to be made public. “I never thought a meeting intended to resolve conflicts among party members would be recorded and leaked. That, too, was my fault,” she wrote. “I trusted the party members, so I never imagined this would happen.”

However, she made clear that an investigation into the Shincheonji allegations should continue independently of the party's ethics review. “The controversy over a secret alliance among the anti-Lee faction, factionalists, and Shincheonji is separate from my mistake,” Choi said. “As I have consistently written in the private party-member chatroom, the full task force report should first be released to establish the facts, and all points of concern should be publicly verified.”

A Facebook post uploaded on the 15th by Choi Min-hee, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party of Korea, titled “The controversy over the secret three-way alliance involving Shincheonji can no longer be swept under the rug!” Screenshot from social media.

“The controversy over a secret three-way alliance involving Shincheonji can no longer be covered up,” she added. “The Democratic Party has called for the facts to be established and accountability to be taken in every matter. It should handle the alleged secret alliance among the anti-Lee faction, factionalists, and Shincheonji in the same way.” In a screenshot of a KakaoTalk group chat she posted alongside the statement, she called for the source of the Shincheonji members' list, when those members joined as dues-paying party members, whether the more than 3,300 eligible voters in the party convention had voted, and evidence of organizational ties to Assemblyman Jung Cheong-rae to be disclosed. She argued that, depending on the findings, either Jung or party leader Kim Min-seok should take responsibility.

Earlier, a media outlet reported that Choi had said at a closed-door meeting with local party members in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, last month that “President Lee Jae-myung had opposed the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol and tried to join hands with then-Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.” The Blue House immediately called the report completely false and expressed strong regret. On November 12, Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok instructed the party's Ethics Audit Committee to investigate Choi's conduct and remarks in general.

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