Opposition lawmakers urge party leader Lee Jae-myung to step down

“The government and the ruling party must have a self-reflection about their cold-hearted budgeting on public rental housing and their policies urging people to leverage debt for home purchasing,” Democratic Party Chairman Lee Jae-myung said on Tuesday. The leader of the main opposition party continued his moves to win voters’ hearts without explaining the controversies surrounding his judicial risks. However, Lee is faced with the worst crisis in three months since he was appointed as party leader as some non-supporters of Lee’s are urging him to step down voluntarily.

“The government slashed a whopping 5.6 trillion won in public rental housing budget,” said Lee Jae-myung, attending a meeting to stop the budget cut of public rental housing on Tuesday, vowing to recover the budget cut at any rate. “It is unfair that the government is turning a blind eye to the suffering of people without their own houses. The government and ruling party are pushing for a tax break worth 6 trillion won for chaebols and ultra-riches.”

While Lee was bent on appealing to the ordinary folks, Pro-Lee lawmakers were eager to dispel the discord without the opposition party. “We are well aware of the political intention behind the prosecution’s investigation, so most members of the party have a shared understanding about the need to stay alert and aligned in responding to the developments,” said Rep. Jeong Seong-ho, a senior member among the pro-Lee faction lawmakers. As to the demand to suspend the post of Kim Yong, a deputy chief of the Institute for Democracy, some non-supporters of Lee Jae-myung suggested that Kim should step down voluntarily.

Non-supporters continued to make barbed comments to Lee Jae-myung. “The Democratic Party must muster the courage to squarely rise to the occasion,” Kim Hae-young, a senior member of the Democratic Party, said in his Facebook posting. “Since the caldron is capsized, now is the time to empty and stuff it with new things.” Late last month, Kim publicly demanded that Lee should step down.


Seong-Ho Hwang hsh0330@donga.com