Lee Jae-myung criticises 'internal attacks' made in the name of radical reform
In short
President Lee Jae-myung wrote on X on October 9 that a bigger problem than pure radicalism is demanding big posts without the ability and then attacking from within under the banner of radical reform. He made the remark while sharing a column by former Seoul education superintendent Cho Hee-yeon (조희연) on internal divisions around the Democratic Party convention. Outlets interpreted the message as aimed at hardliners in the governing camp who opposed government policy on prosecution reform and the nomination of Kim Ji-yong (김지용) to head the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency.
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President Lee Jae-myung wrote on X on October 9 that "pure radicalism may also be a problem, but the bigger problem is demanding a big post without the ability, trying to run personnel matters and even national policy one's own way, and, when that does not work, using it as a cause to put forward radical reform and attack from within." [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]
He made the remark while sharing a newspaper column by former Seoul education superintendent Cho Hee-yeon that, according to Yonhap, Chosun Ilbo, Dong-A Ilbo and Kyunghyang Shinmun, analysed internal divisions around the Democratic Party's national convention. Dong-A Ilbo and Newsis gave its title as "When hatred toward the enemy turns toward comrades"; Kyunghyang Shinmun said it was a Kyunghyang column, and Newsis said it appeared in a newspaper the day before. Lee quoted Cho's line: "It is not striking comrades for the sake of revolution; striking comrades itself becomes the revolution." [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]
Yonhap, Chosun Ilbo and Kyunghyang Shinmun said the message is interpreted as having in mind hardliners within the camp who pushed back against government policy during prosecution reform. Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min and Lim Eun-jung, head of the Gwangju regional serious crimes investigation office, had publicly voiced opposition to the nomination of Kim Ji-yong as head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, those outlets reported. Dong-A Ilbo reported that Choo and Kim Yong-min have labelled Kim Ji-yong "pro-Yoon Suk Yeol" and oppose his appointment. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 7 ]
Lee had earlier written on X on October 5: "I trust it will not happen, but in the unlikely event, no one should, under the pretext of prosecution reform, try to control personnel and even specific investigation and prosecution work out of private motives." Chosun Ilbo described that post as a response to the veto of the Kim Ji-yong nomination. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 7 ]
Newsis reported that on the morning of October 9 Lee also wrote that reform "to live better together" is like cancer surgery that must be done, and that avoiding surgery because it hurts can mean more pain for longer or even loss of life. He wrote that those who deceive the public by saying the surgery hurts or is unnecessary, or who effectively obstruct it by saying only they can do it, are a challenge everyone must overcome together, and asked the public to bear with it a little longer. Sharing an article on balanced regional development, he said applicants from the capital region to regional hub national universities in next year's early admissions had risen by more than 50,000, calling it the effect of just one year of the policy. [ 6 ]
Why it matters
The outlets interpret the message as aimed at hardliners in the governing camp, where a provincial governor, a ruling-party lawmaker and a regional investigation chief have publicly opposed the president's nominee. It follows a similar warning Lee posted on October 5.
Key facts
- On October 9, Lee wrote on X that "the bigger problem" is demanding big posts without the ability, trying to run personnel and national policy one's own way, and then attacking from within under the banner of radical reform. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]
- Lee made the remark while sharing a newspaper column by former Seoul education superintendent Cho Hee-yeon on internal divisions around the Democratic Party convention. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 7 ]
- Dong-A Ilbo and Newsis gave the column's title as "When hatred toward the enemy turns toward comrades". [ 5 , 6 ]
- Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae (추미애), Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min (김용민) and Lim Eun-jung (임은정), head of the Gwangju regional serious crimes investigation office, had publicly opposed the nomination of Kim Ji-yong as head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency. [ 2 , 3 , 7 ]
- On October 5, Lee wrote on X that no one should, under the pretext of prosecution reform, try to control personnel and specific investigation and prosecution work out of private motives. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 7 ]
- Newsis reported that Lee also wrote on the morning of October 9 that reform is like cancer surgery that must be done. [ 6 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Lee wrote on X on October 9 that demanding big posts without the ability and attacking from within under the banner of radical reform is a bigger problem than pure radicalism. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]
- Lee shared a column by former Seoul education superintendent Cho Hee-yeon on internal divisions around the Democratic Party convention. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 7 ]
- Lee quoted Cho's line that striking comrades itself becomes the revolution. [ 2 , 3 , 6 , 7 ]
- Choo Mi-ae and Kim Yong-min opposed the nomination of Kim Ji-yong as head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 7 ]
- Lee wrote on October 5 that no one should use prosecution reform as a pretext to control personnel and investigation work out of private motives. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 7 ]
Still unclear
- Whom exactly Lee's post was aimed at. The outlets present the link to hardliners opposing the Kim Ji-yong nomination as their interpretation; Dong-A Ilbo's headline frames it as a question.
- The figure of more than 50,000 additional capital-region applicants to regional hub national universities. Only Newsis reports it, citing an article Lee shared.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Yonhap reports Lee's X post criticising internal attacks in the name of radical reform. [ 2 ]
- Chosun Ilbo reports the post, linking it to the October 5 message on the Kim Ji-yong nomination. [ 3 ]
- Dong-A Ilbo and Newsis publish reports, with Newsis adding Lee's morning post on reform. [ 5 , 6 ]
- Kyunghyang Shinmun reports that Lee shared Cho Hee-yeon's column. [ 7 ]