PPP calls for special prosecutor to investigate Shincheonji-Democratic Party ties

The People Power Party went on the offensive against the Democratic Party of Korea on Saturday, calling for a special prosecutor as the opposition party's pro-Lee Jae Myung and pro-Jung Chung-rae factions clashed publicly over allegations of organized Shincheonji membership infiltration.

PPP Chief Spokesperson Park Sung-hoon said in a statement that the Democratic Party had long accused the PPP of colluding with the Shincheonji religious group, branding it a scandal of "political-religious corruption." "The Democratic Party, which claimed the moral high ground by applying strict standards to the other party's allegations, is now desperately trying to bury its own mass membership scandal while keeping the results of its internal investigation tightly under wraps," Park said.

He said the behavior was "a textbook case of double standards and the height of arrogance and hypocrisy that deceives the public," and added that "the same yardstick applied to others must equally apply to oneself."

Park also urged the Democratic Party to immediately halt what he described as factional infighting and a behind-closed-doors process aimed at cutting off accountability, and to fully disclose the findings of its task force investigation to the public and party members without exception. "To make the facts of the allegations crystal clear, the party must immediately cooperate with a rigorous investigation by law enforcement," he said.

PPP Spokesperson Jo Yong-sul also issued a statement the same day, saying the allegations of organized Shincheonji membership sign-ups within the Democratic Party were "getting worse by the day." "The spectacle inside the Democratic Party of members spending months pointing fingers at each other and raising allegations over the Shincheonji affair is not what a legitimate political party looks like — it is pure chaos," Jo said.

"What exactly are you so afraid of that you keep hesitating to disclose?" Jo said, noting that Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok had personally raised the allegations of organized Shincheonji involvement. "If that is the case, all they need to do is release the internal investigation results as they are," he said.

Jo said the Democratic Party was "a party that had stubbornly pushed for the PPP's dissolution by insisting on ties with Shincheonji," adding that "now that the reality of their own problem has come to light, they suddenly seem to have lost the ability to make a decision."

Jo urged the Democratic Party to stop wearing out the public with its drawn-out allegations and said, "Let's form a special prosecutor — the Democratic Party's favorite tool — and thoroughly investigate the allegations of collusion between the Democratic Party and Shincheonji."

Meanwhile, a public confrontation erupted at the Democratic Party's Supreme Council meeting on Friday, when pro-Jung faction member Lee Sung-yoon demanded the release of the Shincheonji investigation results, and pro-Lee faction member Park Seon-won — who had led the party membership review task force — fired back by saying he would disclose the findings at a press conference.