Democratic Party leader Chung Cheong-rae attends the party's New Year's meeting [Photo=Yonhap News] 

Amid allegations of bribery and procedural interference surrounding candidate nominations, controversy is spreading over the Democratic Party's criteria for processing these nominations. 

Given that some individuals have been expelled, others referred to the ethics committee, and still others have faced no judgment at all for similar nomination issues, questions are being raised about the consistency of the party's decision-making standards.

The Democratic Party recently held a Supreme Council meeting and expelled lawmaker Kang Sun-woo while referring former floor leader Kim Byung-ki to the Central Party Ethics Committee. The party leadership explained that both cases were disciplinary actions for undermining the fairness of the nomination process.

In the case of lawmaker Kang Sun-woo, the Democratic Party stated that based on the meeting minutes of the Seoul City Party Nomination Management Committee held on April 22, 2022, it was confirmed that she made remarks advocating for the sole nomination of Seoul City Councilor Kim Gyeong at that meeting. The party clarified that the reason for expulsion was improper intervention in the nomination process, regardless of whether any money was exchanged.

Under the same standard, the Democratic Party referred former floor leader Kim Byung-ki, who was the head of the Central Party's Public Election Candidate Verification Committee at the time, to the ethics committee. The intention is to assess whether he fulfilled his management and oversight responsibilities as the person in charge of nomination verification.

However, Seoul City Councilor Kim Gyeong, who directly benefited from the nomination outcome, has not yet been referred to the ethics committee or faced any separate disciplinary action.

In response, some within and outside the party have pointed out, "If the matters warranted expulsion and referral to the ethics committee, then a judgment on the nomination outcome itself would also have been necessary."

Another controversy arose during the handling of a petition related to the nomination process for the 2020 general election.

According to a JoongAng Ilbo report, it has been confirmed that a petition alleging bribery in the nomination process for the Seoul Dongjak-gap constituency during the 21st general election in 2020 was delivered to the Democratic Party leader's office in December 2023.

The petition was reportedly drafted by two former Democratic Party councilors from Dongjak-gu, Seoul, and it contains claims of money being exchanged in relation to the nomination process of Kim Byung-ki, the Democratic Party candidate for Dongjak-gap at the time. Kim Byung-ki's camp has stated that these claims are "groundless."

The individual who publicly revealed delivering this petition to Kim Hyun-ji, an aide to Party Leader (Lee Jae-myung), was former Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Soo-jin (for Seoul Dongjak-eul in the 21st general election).

Former lawmaker Lee explained that she raised the issue in the form of a petition in December 2023. This was just a few months before the nominations for the 22nd general election in April 2024. After being received by the party leader's office, the petition underwent internal review but did not lead to an investigation or an ethics committee judgment.

Subsequently, during the 2024 general election nomination process, former lawmaker Lee Soo-jin was cut off. The Democratic Party stated that the nomination outcome was a "strategic decision," but controversy continues as her exclusion occurred after she raised the issue.

The People Power Party is criticizing the Democratic Party's nomination processing methods, stating, "The criteria for judgment differed on the same nomination issue." A People Power Party official remarked, "Some are expelled, some are held accountable, and some are completely excluded from judgment. This structure inevitably fuels doubts about the fairness of nominations."

While the Democratic Party emphasizes improvements to its nomination system, doubts remain as to whether this case, where expulsion, referral to the ethics committee, being cut off, and no action all coexist, clearly demonstrates the party's nomination standards.

Reporter Kim Young