Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea chair, speaks to a rally held in the streets of central Seoul on Saturday, the day after a court in Seoul sentenced him to a suspended prison term. (Yonhap)

A rift appears to be forming within the Democratic Party of Korea after a Seoul court sentenced party leader and previous presidential candidate Rep. Lee Jae-myung to a suspended jail term Friday for election law violations.

The Democratic Party has officially denied that Lee’s conviction -- which, if confirmed by higher courts, could cost him his legislative seat -- would divide the party or necessitate a leadership shake-up.

The party’s secretary-general, Rep. Kim Yun-duck, told reporters Sunday that the party “stands united behind” Lee. “We are not at all considering instating a new party leader,” he said. "There is absolute consensus about that among our party."

The Democratic Party leader, who was narrowly defeated by President Yoon Suk Yeol in the 2022 election, is still the widely favored pick for the next president, according to recent polls.

If Lee ends up being unseated and loses his shot at running for president, however, the Democratic Party will have no choice but to look for another candidate to run in the next presidential election, now less than three years away.

Beneath the surface, the non-Lee faction is slowly rallying around other liberal figures who served in the last Democratic Party administration under former President Moon Jae-in.

One of the prominent names floated as an alternative is Kim Boo-kyum. The former prime minister under Moon was invited by a group of Democratic Party lawmakers who are not Lee loyalists to speak at their upcoming monthly gathering on Dec. 1.

Another is Kim Dong-yeon, governor of Gyeonggi Province, who fanned speculation when he held a surprise meeting with Moon last month at his gubernatorial office.

A two-time Democratic Party lawmaker who was part of Moon’s Cabinet told The Korea Herald that at the moment, many feel there is “no realistic substitute” when support for Lee is “so rock solid.” “Like him or not, there is no denying Lee has a strong support base, which makes it a challenge for the party to pivot from him or for any lawmaker to be openly against him,” he said.

One ruling People Power Party lawmaker said that if the conviction against Lee stands, the division in the Democratic Party could spiral into something more than a factional war. “The Democratic Party may split into two parties -- one run by Lee and his allies and the other by the rest, such as the pro-Moon faction,” he told The Korea Herald.

Over the weekend, the Democratic Party continued its attack on the court, saying that sentencing Lee to a suspended one-year jail term constituted “judicial murder” of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s “political foe.”

The party accused the court of “uncritically accepting the outcomes of a politically motivated investigation” by the prosecutors, and finding Lee guilty based on “twisted facts.”

The Democratic Party leadership, including Lee, rallied in the streets of central Seoul on Saturday calling for an investigation of Yoon’s wife Kim Keon Hee. The party alleges that the first lady meddled in the nomination process of a National Assembly by-election two years ago.

At the rally Lee denied wrongdoing and vowed to stay strong. “I won’t be brought down. Democracy won’t be brought down. The future of this country won’t be brought down,” he told a crowd of supporters.

The People Power Party criticized the opposition taking to the streets in defiance of the verdict as an attempt to “seriously undermine the credibility of the justice system in the eyes of the public.”