Kim Min-seok Calls for Introducing Audits of Local Government Heads, Taking Aim at Choo Mi-ae

Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok raised the need for auditing local government heads on the 15th. The remark was interpreted as a jab at Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae. Internal rifts within the ruling camp over President Lee Jae-myung's prosecution reform continue to deepen.

After rebutting Governor Choo on Democratic Party TV on the 14th, saying her situation resembled 'the early signs of the period leading up to President Roh Moo-hyun's impeachment,' Kim reiterated on the 15th that 'the lesson is that the forces who attempted pointless impeachments were destroyed.' Earlier, Governor Choo had criticized President Lee at a memorial service for democracy movement victims on the 12th, saying she was 'trembling under the sway of insurrectionist forces.'

Responding to Cho Kuk, head of the Rebuilding Korea Party's Innovation Policy Research Institute, who pointed out that 'the notion of impeaching Lee Jae-myung is being spread,' Kim pushed back, saying, 'Talking about the core agenda actually shakes up the party's support base,' calling it 'shaking things up disguised as concern.'

At the first joint meeting of provincial and metropolitan chapter chairs held at the Democratic Party's headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 15th, Kim emphasized the need to keep local government heads in check. 'In local governments, especially in the activities of their heads, there are many cases where audit oversight is a blind spot,' he noted, adding, 'We must constantly examine whether the candidates elected on our party's tickets are upholding the party's policies, platform, and standards.' He also said that allowing local government heads who court the party only until nominated and then act as monarchs afterward is not right from the standpoint of local autonomy and democracy.

Calls for restraint emerged from within the Democratic Party. Rep. Park Ji-won, appearing on CBS Radio on the 15th, told both Governor Choo and Chairman Kim that 'too much is as bad as too little.' 'It is regrettable that Governor Choo made remarks that could open the path to power for insurrectionist forces by fighting among ourselves,' he said, adding, 'It is also not desirable for Chairman Kim to further inflame the issue.'