Choi Min-hee, a supreme council member of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, said there is "no disagreement whatsoever" within the party over leader Kim Min-seok's push to expand its appeal to moderate voters, warning that the party would "respond firmly" to news reports that frame internal differences as an attempt to sow division.
Speaking at a supreme council meeting held at the Inspire hotel in Incheon's Yeongjong district on the 28th, Choi said the mood of the times calls for "a great transformation of South Korea," adding that the party's goal is "a Democratic Party that changes my life — in other words, sweeping reform for people's livelihoods." She said members must "unite tightly as one" to focus on that task.
Choi said she agrees with the strategy of broadening the party's reach to centrist voters, and that "there should be no disagreement about firming up the party's core, either." She noted that President Lee Jae-myung has also stressed that the Democratic Party is one. "In that process, there may be small mistakes and differences of opinion may surface, but if there are reports that push those differences into claims of division, we will respond firmly," she added.
Choi also said the party would take strong action against derogatory and mocking terms circulating both inside and outside the party, including a coinage aimed at supporters of former President Moon Jae-in. "Leader Kim Min-seok, former leader Jung Chung-rae and we ourselves all understand the wounds our members have suffered," she said. "Former President Moon Jae-in made a particular request on this matter, so we will deal firmly with such slurs, ridicule and hatred."
On remarks made recently on a YouTube broadcast that evoked the victims of the People's Revolutionary Party incident, Choi called them "a distortion of history that should not end with a simple apology." Saying the program had also mocked the grievances of former lawmaker Noh Woong-rae, she warned, "We will look into this further and respond at the party level."
