By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
A total of 486 people applied to run in the upcoming National Assembly elections on the ticket of the United Democratic Party (UDP) but only the Jeolla region, its stronghold, was crowded with hopefuls, the party announced Monday.
The application rate stood at 2 to 1, lower than the 4.82 to 1 rate that the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) saw earlier this month.
The conservative GNP, which is expected to sweep most of the 243 districts nationwide based on its large popularity, has 1,173 people registered.
Of 486 people registered with the liberal UDP, 212 applied to run in 31 districts in the Jeolla provinces.
Gwangju saw the highest application rate of 8.29 to 1 as 58 people applied to run in seven districts.
In particular, Gwangju's Buk-gu was recorded as the most crowded district because 12 including UDP lawmaker Kang Gi-jung and former Defense Minister Kim Dong-shin applied.
North Jeolla and South Jeolla provinces came next with 6.82 to 1 and 5.31 to 1, respectively.
On the other hand, the Gyeongsang areas and several provinces, where most political experts forecast GNP's sweep of the vote saw little crowding.
No one applied to compete in 72 districts in the Gyeongang region and only one person each registered for 65 constituencies in the Gyeonggi and Chungcheong provinces.
Also, UDP hopefuls tended to avoid competition in some districts where confidants of President Lee Myung-bak are expected to run.
Former and incumbent party leaders will likely join the Assembly elections slated for April 9 in a more strategic way, party sources said.
UDP Co-Chairman Sohn Hak-kyu as well as former party head Chung Dong-young are considering aiming for proportional representation seats or running in districts in Seoul.
UDP Co-Chairman Park Sang-cheon applied to run in Goheung-Boseong, South Jeolla Province, where he has won an Assembly seat four times.
However, it remains uncertain whether candidates from the party, which is suffering from rock-bottom popularity, can win as many Assembly seats as it holds now. The UDP has 141 seats in the 299-member legislature, while the GNP has 130.