Rhyu Si-min, a former minister of health and welfare, has spent the past few decades building a reputation as one of South Korea’s most influential liberal commentators. Over the past several weeks, however, he shockingly has aimed that influence at President Lee Jae-myung – the leader his commentary once helped elect.
In a series of YouTube appearances since late June, Rhyu has argued that Lee is not merely tolerating the ruling Democratic Party’s drift toward the center but directing it. He compared the shift to the “reconstruction” of a building that displaced longtime residents without their consent and predicted that Lee would come out damaged and the party would descend into disarray.
Rhyu pressed further on July 21, saying that the informal bloc of Lee loyalists known as “New Lee Jae-myung” answers not to junior lawmakers but to the president himself. He argued that the disorder inside the party over the past year most likely traces back to a plan Lee set in motion from his first days in office. Rhyu also compared the presidential Blue House to a fish market that would start to smell of rot without outside scrutiny.
While accusing Lee of betraying his loyal supporters in the DP, Rhyu’s most detailed accusation concerns prosecutorial reform. He has argued that a stalled bill to fully separate police investigative power from prosecutorial indictment power remains unfinished because Lee himself wants prosecutors to keep some investigative authority, and that Lee has let allies absorb the criticism rather than explain the shift in his own voice. The presidential Blue House pushed back immediately, saying its commitment to full separation of investigation and indictment powers has never wavered.
