Despite Kim’s three apologies, the pro-Cheong faction went on the offensive… Shincheonji’s internal corruption through individual viewing

The Democratic Party of Korea's factional conflict surrounding the Shincheonji controversy is reaching a crossroads on the 6th.

This is due to the prediction that by allowing members of the National Assembly and chairs of regional committees outside the National Assembly to view the results of their own investigation into the suspicions that a group of Shincheonji members joined the group, demands for 'political responsibility' from the pro-Qing faction based on this may become more intense.

In response to this, CEO Kim Min-seok appears to be making every effort to extinguish the controversy by apologizing every day for raising suspicions.

From this day to the 13th, the Democratic Party will review the results of its investigation into Shincheonji suspicions targeting active members of the National Assembly and regional committee chairs at the party's Secretary General's Office.

It is reported that pro-Cheong faction Supreme Council members Choi Min-hee and Han Min-soo, and Lee Ji-eun, Seoul Mapo-gap regional committee chairman, applied for inspection.

In a phone call with Yonhap News, a pro-Cheong faction figure said, "Representative Kim said there was no evidence of the 'anti-myeong (anti-Lee Jae-myung), separatism, and Shincheonji three-party alliance' that he claimed at the national convention, but within the party, people keep saying that 'there were Shincheonji (members).' We need to check what they investigated."

There is a possibility that the pro-Cheong faction will further increase the level of pressure on Representative Kim, saying that after completing the review, they clearly confirmed that there was no evidence of a three-party alliance.

On this day, CEO Kim publicly apologized at the highest level for raising suspicions about Shincheonji.

This was the third time he bowed his head, following the closed general meeting of lawmakers on the 3rd and the party's YouTube broadcast the day before.

Representative Kim said, "I would like to apologize again to all those who were hurt and to the party members who love the party while raising and warning strong concerns about religion's intervention in politics at the last national convention."

Park Seon-won, a member of the supreme committee in charge of investigating the suspicions of Shincheonji, said, “As the head of the investigation team on the Shincheonji issue, how much can I say?” and added, “Unless there is a separate decision from the highest level, I will not say a single word.”

It is interpreted as a statement supporting Representative Kim's decision to block the spread of conflict within the party surrounding Shincheonji.

However, the pro-Cheong faction also demanded a ‘true apology’ from Representative Kim at the highest level meeting that day.

In particular, he took aim at the mainstream party members who evaluated Representative Kim's apology at the closed-door general meeting on the 3rd as a 'decision'.

Lee Seong-yoon, a member of the pro-Blue faction's Supreme Council, said in a public statement following Kim's remarks, "Some lawmakers are distorting the nature of the suspicions as if the leader had made a decision to save the country, even though the leader made a decision for the party and there are still suspicions about Shincheonji. They are committing secondary harm to party members who were already hurt."

Supreme Council member Lee said, "We must admit what we did wrong and apologize directly to the victims. A true apology can only be made if we promise to prevent recurrence," and urged, "The results of the task force's investigation, including the source of Shincheonji data, the time of joining the party, and whether or not the party joined the organization, must be fully disclosed to party members as is."

Supreme Council member Choi Min-hee said, “The picture I want is for Representative Kim and former Representative Chung Cheong-rae to meet to discuss the issue in depth and explain it to party members.”

He said, “Because former Representative Jeong suffered a great political blow, shouldn’t he first relax emotionally?”

On the other hand, mainstream lawmakers from the pro-Myung (pro-Lee Jae-myung) faction provided cover for Representative Kim.

Spokesperson Jo Gye-won said to reporters after viewing the results of the Shincheonji investigation at the party's secretary-general's office in the National Assembly that day, "Private viewing was a good choice," and added, "I can understand that it was in this context that Representative Kim judged that another huge turmoil could be caused."

Spokesperson Cho explained, "I looked at the witnesses and the contents of their testimony. In order to confirm the testimony (whether it is true or not), an investigation must ultimately be conducted, and this could cause further anxiety," adding, "We checked the number of (Shincheonji) party members, and there were quite meaningful numbers. Gwangju, South Jeolla Province, and North Jeolla Province were in a rather serious situation."

Rep. Song Young-gil said on KBS radio that he would read the results of the investigation, saying, "CEO Kim Min-seok has officially apologized and seems to be trying to resolve the matter."