Democratic Party of Korea's 5 Suwon District Committees Say They'll "Represent Citizens" Over Lee Jae-joon Mayor Allegations; Only 6 of 16 Member Lawmakers Attend

The Democratic Party of Korea's 5 Suwon district party committees held a joint press conference urging clarification of "Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-joon's allegations of illegal government-backed party member recruitment," yet more than half of their own local council members were absent, and the proceedings were marked by repeated signs of poor organization.

The Democratic Party of Korea's 5 Suwon district party committees held a press conference at 9:30 a.m. on the 12th at the Suwon Special Metropolitan City Council briefing room, calling on Mayor Lee to directly address allegations of illegal government-backed party member recruitment and investigate whether public officials have intervened in elections.

This joint response came after one of six related individuals under investigation for the allegations was arrested on the 10th.

Although the five party committees jointly organized the event, only 6 of 16 affiliated metropolitan and municipal council members attended. All 5 party committee chairs were present.

The press conference got off to a rough start.

Although the scheduled time had passed, the conference did not begin. While one audience member conveyed personal opinions about the press conference format, the party committee provided no guidance and simply waited.

The distributed materials were insufficient, requiring two additional printings on-site. City Council Member A busily moved about collecting materials.

During the conference, City Council Member B's mobile phone rang. B stepped outside to take the call, but the conversation could be heard inside the briefing room. City Council Member C also left the room and went outside during the conference.

When questions were directed at the party committee side calling for the mayor's clarification, they failed to provide clear answers.

When asked how they had responded since the allegations of illegal government-backed party member recruitment first surfaced in March, the party committee explained that they were "unaware of related details," failing to demonstrate specific actions taken.

Instead, emphasizing public institutions' obligation to provide information and citizens' right to know, they stated their "principled position" to "represent the voice of citizens and continuously raise concerns."

In particular, one party committee chair criticized the "extension of the autonomy council chair term" as a "trick to lead the election in a favorable direction," without being asked a separate question.

However, when asked whether this should be judged as "government-backed election interference," they hedged their answer without a direct response, saying it was "part of the extension of related allegations."

The party committee explained that "this press conference was to represent the problem awareness of citizens."

Citing the case in which Gyeonggi Province changed its position following related media coverage and a citizens' press conference during the controversy over the sale of Gwanggyo Government Complex, they emphasized that "active expression of citizens' opinions is influencing administration."

However, they revealed neither specific follow-up measures nor concrete schedules that the five party committees would jointly pursue regarding the current allegations.

While the press conference on this day was meant to demand accountable clarification from the mayor, the party committees themselves—who had to launch a political response following the allegations—gave only generic answers about what they had done and what they would do going forward.

Regarding the low attendance of local council members, one party committee chair said, "City council members could not attend due to overseas schedules and other commitments."