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Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung speaks with Jin Gyo-hoon, the Democratic Party’s candidate for mayor of Seoul’s Gangseo District, in his room at Green Hospital in Seoul’s Jungnang District on Sept. 22. (courtesy of the Democratic Party)

On Saturday, Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung ended his hunger strike after 24 days. While his gesture may have underscored the clarity of his struggle against the ruling People Power Party with his calls for full-scale reforms to the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s governing approach, he did not fully succeed in dispelling suspicions that he was undertaking the hunger strike in an attempt to shield himself.

Lee reportedly ended his hunger strike based on strong recommendations from physicians who were concerned about his health deteriorating. This was the first long-term hunger strike by an opposition party leader since a 23-day one by future president Kim Young-sam in 1983, the former leader of the then-banned New Democratic Party.

In a press conference held on Aug. 31 for the one-year anniversary of his election to the party leadership, Lee said he would “begin a popular struggle against an incompetent and violent administration.”

He launched an indefinite hunger strike, with demands that included an apology from the administration for “destroying livelihoods and damaging democracy,” a statement of opposition to the ocean release of radioactively contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan and a complaint about it to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and a Cabinet reshuffle and full-scale revision of the administration’s governing approach.

At the time, some questioned whether he was doing so to turn things around with his potential legal worries — but he did succeed in drumming up popular support for the need to stop the Yoon administration from running amok.

It’s also true that the moral justification behind his hunger strike was tarnished somewhat when he came out with a position statement the day before the vote on his arrest motion, where he urged lawmakers to vote it down. Going back on his pledge to forfeit his immunity to arrest as a lawmaker, he all but invited cynics to view his hunger strike as a self-protection move after all. With his failure to win support within his own party, critics said he summoned a backlash that resulted in the motion being approved.

Not only did Lee fail to see through his demands from the administration, but he also failed to unite the Democratic Party.

Since the arrest motion vote, the Democratic Party has been plunged into what amounts to a state of psychological civil war. The party leadership has signaled its intent to discipline the Democratic Party lawmakers who voted in favor of the motion, while die-hand supporters have declared plans to “hunt down” and punish the members who voted to approve the motion.

Lee Jae-myung is the one who should be working to restrain them and restore some semblance of unity. So it’s unfortunate that he instead seems to be focused on shoring up his support base.

In a position statement issued after the arrest motion vote, he declared his plans to make “unbending efforts,” signaling his intent to hold on to his position as party leader. He also called on the Democratic Party to “take ownership over its shortcomings by compensating, assigning responsibility, and correcting.”

His message amounted to an appeal to die-hard supporters to rally and join the party. He did not include any expression of regret for going back on his pledge to waive immunity from arrest.

Now Lee’s political fate hinges on the outcome of a warrant review scheduled for Tuesday. If a warrant is indeed issued, it could plunge the Democratic Party into even greater turmoil.

Now that he has ended his hunger strike, Lee bears responsibility for resolving the extreme chaos that has descended on his party. He must ensure that the party is able to perform the way the top opposition party is supposed to: by reining in the administration’s excesses and tending to the public’s livelihoods.

With the hunger strike behind him, Lee faces an even bigger test of his leadership.

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