Rep. Jung Chung-rae of the Democratic Party of Korea on the 21st urged the party leadership to promptly disclose the findings of its investigation into allegations that members of the Shincheonji religious group joined the party.
"I understand the party conducted an investigation into the three-way secret alliance of anti-Lee forces, factionalism and Shincheonji that was talked about during the national convention," Jung wrote on Facebook. "Whoever tries to cover it up is the culprit. Disclose it as it is."
The party leadership had earlier been briefed on the results of its internal investigation into allegations of Shincheonji involvement raised during the convention. It has yet to reach a conclusion on follow-up steps, including how much of the findings to make public, prompting Jung to press for swift disclosure.
Lee Sung-yoon, a supreme council member aligned with Jung, also said at a supreme council meeting the same day that it was time to put an end to the matter. "It is time to end the Shincheonji involvement allegations that have thrown our party into division and danger," Lee said. "Three months have passed since the allegations were raised. We must promptly disclose to the public and party members the findings of the investigation our party conducted and bring this issue to a close."
Lee also cited remarks made the previous day at a parliamentary audit by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, where Kim Tae-hoon, former head of a joint investigation headquarters on collusion between religion and politics, said no evidence or circumstances had been found indicating that Shincheonji systematically directed its members to join the Democratic Party. "Dozens of prosecutors and police officers at the joint investigation headquarters searched and investigated Shincheonji for eight months, and they could not confirm allegations that Shincheonji systematically had members join a political party or intervened in elections," Lee said.