A four-term lawmaker is a middle-of-the-road politician who has worn the parliamentary badge for 4 years, and four-term Democrats have stepped up to resolve intra-party conflicts. Their idea is a movement called Get Off the Bus. The movement stemmed from an anecdote from a candlelight vigil six years ago, but can this movement lead the Democratic Party to unity?

"Get Off the Bus" After 6 Years


There are a total of 4 four-term members of the Democratic Party, 11 except Hong Young-pyo, who is on the list of proposers of the "Get Off the Bus 10" movement.

The name "Get off the bus" goes back to the time of the "candlelight vigil against Park Geun-hye and Choi Soon-sil of the National Government Nongdan," where a large number of citizens shouted "get off the bus" at some citizens who were trying to climb into a police bus and fight hard. These efforts by the citizens put the brakes on the hard-line struggle and helped maintain the tone of peaceful protests.

The movement first emerged in the Democratic Party during the presidential nomination contest in March 2023, when supporters of each candidate's hardline launched attacks on their opponents by sending "text bombs" and "2017 won, 3 won," and so on. You could say 'Get off the 18 bus and exercise' or 'Get off the 4st bus and exercise'. At the time, the Democratic Party leader was Congressman Woo Won-sik.

Senior four-term Democrats brought up the "Get Off the First Bus and Movement" again six years ago to settle intra-party conflicts. To put it simply, Lee Jae-myung's hard-line supporters are mediating the conflict between the "dog daughter" (daughter of reform) and the screaming system (non-Lee Jae-myeong-gye).

Among the 2017 four-term lawmakers who participated in the "Get Off the Bus 1" movement, Kim Sang-hee, Ahn Kyu-baek, Woo Won-sik, and Chung Sung-ho attended the press conference.

At a press conference, Councillor Woo Won-sik said, "The proposal for '4, get off the bus' is clear. Against the Yoon Seok-yeol regime, winning the general elections is the task on the ground, and the prerequisite task for winning the general elections is the unity of the MDP," he said, calling for unity.

Congressman Wu diagnosed the current situation of the MDP as "a situation of great concern because it seems to be ahead of confrontation instead of unity and day-to-day attacks instead of discussions," and explained the purpose of the movement, saying, "I propose to refrain from stigmatizing each other from within the MDP, and to activate the public forum for candid communication with party members and supporters." He also called on party members and supporters to shout "get off the bus now" for wrongdoing.


I would like to call on action from the Party, its members and supporters. First of all, I propose that from within the Democratic Party, we should refrain from mutual disagreement and stigmatization, activate public discourse, and have candid communication with party members and supporters, and strengthen it. I hope that Party members and supporters who want the unity and unity of the Party will shout to those who are misbehaving "get off the bus at once."

Woo Won-sik, member of the Democratic Party

Lee Jae-myung who took out the personal renewal card


Representative Lee Jae-myung of the MDP also seems to have begun to resolve internal conflicts, and a movement for personnel renewal to resolve sectarian conflicts is being seen.

Supreme Council member Lim Sun-sook, a nominated member of the Supreme Council, officially expressed his apologies after the Supreme Council meeting today (24 May), saying, "I have an apology. Today, because it is the Supreme Council on the ground, I did not express my resignation." Supreme Council Member Lim was appointed as the nominated Supreme Council member of Honam in September last year, and it appears that he expressed his apologies in response to the atmosphere of demand for personnel renewal.
Representative Lee Jae-myung is said to have accepted Supreme Council Member Lim's request. It is reported that Supreme Council member Yim will be considered as a possible successor. It can be read as a sign of inclusion in the leadership to create the appearance of unity and prodigy greetings.

There is also talk of a replacement of spokesman Kim Eui-chong, who took the lead in covering for Representative Lee. It appears that spokesman Kim took into account the controversy caused by the "alleged drinking party in Cheongdam-dong," and according to the Chosun Ilbo report, "The rest of the spokespersons, except for Assemblyman Park Sung-joon, are likely to be replaced."

Earlier, the MDP's largest gathering of lawmakers, "A Better Future," suggested to Representative Lee Jae-myung that the party's crisis should be resolved through a comprehensive personnel makeover, and it seems that Representative Lee will accept such opinions and try to appease the screams. It can also be seen that Mr. Lee is taking the party split seriously.

Park Yong-jin: "Determined to break up with my daughter"


There are also many prospects that it will be difficult for intra-party conflicts to evolve through the "get off the bus" movement or party reshuffles. In particular, the screaming attacks of powerful party members and supporters are difficult to control because they do not work even with Chairman Lee Jae-myung's reluctance.

Just today (24th), Assemblyman Park Yong-jin posted a poster on social media announcing a rally against Assemblyman Lee Won-wook, which is believed to have been made by supporters of Lee Kang-kang, and posted a long post criticizing it. The title of the article is <Change and Determination: Deciding to Break Up with My Daughter>, and the title has several implications.

Rep. Park bluntly criticized the "dog daughter." "Like hooligans ruining teams and ruining football, political hooligans and malicious fandoms ruin political parties and smash democracy", "We must never allow the illusion that anti-democratic behavior is for the Democratic Party", and "The change and determination of the Democratic Party starts with the determination to break up with the dog's daughter".


The biggest obstacle to the general unity of the Democratic Party is the dogdaughter and political hooligan who attacks from within, incites division. When the dog daughters tear the watermelon, the people are tired of the dog daughters tearing the Democratic Party. How can a party that makes the people sick come to power! The Democratic Party's change and determination starts with a determination to part ways with their dogdaughter.

Lee Jae-myung's resignation also erupted publicly

There are also constant attacks on Lee Jae-myung. In particular, there has been a storm of backlash over the application of an exception to Article 80 of the Party Constitution that provides for "suspension of office upon indictment" to Mr. Lee.

Lee Sang-min, a five-term lawmaker in the middle of the party's nomination, said in KBS Radio's "Choe Business Administration's Strongest Current Affairs," "Article 5 of the Party Constitution was made to uphold the basic spirit of 'those who hold various positions of office during former Chairman Moon Jae-in's promise to the people as a way to innovate the Party.'"

"It is difficult for me to agree on whether it is appropriate for Chairman Lee to remain as party leader," he said, pressuring him to resign, saying, "Representative Lee Jae-myung needs to make a decision and sort out his identity."