Ex-DPK lawmaker joins PPP ahead of general elections
Rep. Lee Sang-min, right, receives a bouquet of flowers from the ruling People Power Party's (PPP) chairman, Han Dong-hoon, at the PPP's emergency committee meeting held in Seoul, Jan. 8. Yonhap
Rep. Lee Sang-min, a five-term lawmaker who left the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) last month, joined the ruling People Power Party (PPP) on Monday, saying he will try to help the PPP win April's general elections.
"The PPP should become the No. 1 party in the upcoming general elections if the Yoon Suk Yeol government is going to succeed," Lee said during a welcoming ceremony. "In order to do that, we should make up for our shortfalls ... I'd like to do my role, however small it might be, for a victory in the general elections."
Lee, who has been elected five consecutive times in the central city of Daejeon since 2004, left the main opposition party last month, claiming the DPK has become a personal party of leader Lee Jae-myung with pro-Lee hardcore members exercising too much influence. (Yonhap)