Supreme Council members Choi Min-hee, Lee Seong-yoon, and Han Min-su, known as the "Team Jeong Cheong-rae," who opposed Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok's appointments to the designated Supreme Council seats, did not attend the decision-making process of the closed Supreme Council meeting. They have argued that Kim did not consult on the appointments to the designated seats and that he broke his pledge to choose them through an "election method."
Park Seong-jun, the Democratic Party chief spokesperson, met with reporters after an on-site Supreme Council meeting held at Gangneung City Hall in Gangwon on the 21st and said, "Regarding the designated Supreme Council members, Supreme Council members Choi Min-hee, Lee Seong-yoon, and Han Min-su did not take part in the vote and left during the decision-making process."
He added, "The remaining Supreme Council members approved the designation agenda items for Jeon Yong-gi and Kwon Mi-kyung," and said, "Supreme Council members Choi Min-hee, Lee Seong-yoon, and Han Min-su expressed their view that these matters had not been explained in advance and left, saying 'we will not attend the Supreme Council decision' and 'we will not attend the vote.'"
Park also explained, "Designated Supreme Council members are approved by the Party Affairs Committee after a Supreme Council resolution," adding, "The reason for having designated Supreme Council members is to grant the party leader inherent authority to secure leadership in a collective leadership system."
In his opening remarks, Kim said regarding the appointments to the designated Supreme Council seats, "I am relieved to be able to report that former lawmaker Jeon and Chairperson Kwon can be brought to the Party Affairs Committee after a Supreme Council vote," and added, "At the party convention, I had thought it would be good if a young person could be elected among the five elected positions along with a woman, but it did not happen due to internal circumstances."
He continued, "I thought it would be good to do so even by using the designated quota, but unavoidably I designated the two," and said, "Regarding institutional improvements, at the next party convention we will begin discussions to amend the party constitution and party rules so that a young person can be elected."
By contrast, in her opening remarks, Supreme Council member Choi Min-hee said, "We tried as much as possible to hold a primary that 20s and 30s could participate in, but due to shortcomings within the party we could not hold a primary, though it seems we will appoint a good young Supreme Council member," and added, "Kim promised to revise the party constitution and rules to make it a mandatory allotment next time. I will monitor to make sure it is kept."