Rep. Kim not to run in April elections

By Jun Ji-hye

Rep. Kim Han-gil

Rep. Kim Han-gil, a political heavyweight and a member of the minority opposition People’s Party, declared Thursday that he will not run in the April 13 general elections.

He made the decision to take responsibility for his failure to persuade the party’s founder and co-Chairman Ahn Cheol-soo to join forces with the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) ahead of the elections, he said.

“I have been raising the need for an alliance of the opposition bloc to win more parliamentary seats in the capital area as well as blocking the overwhelming victory of the ruling party in the elections,” Kim announced in a statement. “I will hold myself responsible for failing to realize such an alliance.”

The four-term lawmaker, who co-founded the MPK’s predecessor, New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), in March 2014 with Ahn, has been seeking to form an alliance with the MPK after its interim leader Kim Chong-in made such a proposal on March 2.

But his effort was of little avail as Rep. Ahn strongly rejected the demand to the end.

Amid a deepening row with Ahn over the alliance proposal, Kim Han-gil stepped down as head of the election planning committee of the People’s Party on March 11.

It was expected that Kim may quit the party as well due to deepening conflicts with Ahn, but Kim did not mention his departure when announcing his decision not to run in the elections.

Observers say that Kim will be unable to help, but will lose ground further in the party as his push for the opposition alliance ended in failure. What’s worse, People’s Party co-chairman Chun Jung-bae, who led the discussion about forming the alliance, along with with Kim, apparently made a retreat on March 15, saying “Forming an alliance between opposition candidates in the capital area would be impossible.”

When asked about Kim’s future plans, one of his aides told reporters, “Kim will play a given role as a party member,” without elaborating on details.

Kim was initially planning to run in the Gwangjin A district in Seoul.

Following Kim’s resignation from candidacy, Jeon Hae-sook, a former lawmaker and the MPK’s candidate for the constituency, expressed her expectation that Kim may declare his support for her for the sake of the opposition bloc.

“Kim made a bold decision. I truly appreciate it,” Jeon told reporters.

Kim quit the MPK in early January and joined hands with Ahn, who at the time was preparing to launch the People’s Party.

Ahn quit the MPK in mid-December last year after a leadership struggle with then-Chairman Moon Jae-in.

Currently, the governing Saenuri Party has 156 seats in the 293-member National Assembly, compared with the MPK’s 105 seats.

The People’s Party controls only 20 seats.

Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye