By Kang Hyun-kyung
Kim Jong-hoon, a former trade minister, is likely to run in the April 11 National Assembly elections on the ruling Saenuri Party ticket.
Kim, 60, was quoted as saying Wednesday that he recently accepted an offer from the party to run on its ticket.
Whether the chief negotiator for the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement will run in an electoral district or be placed on the proportional representation list has yet to be decided, according to party sources.
If the former is the case, Kim could run in the conservative party’s home turf in Daegu or southern Seoul, they said.
If he is included as a proportional representative, the former trade minister doesn’t need to launch a campaign as his win will be determined by the ratio of votes that the ruling party garners in the general election.
Some ruling party members expressed worries over the selection of Kim.
In a radio program, Lee Sang-don, an emergency committee member and a professor of economics of Chung-Ang University in Seoul, said he opposed Kim joining the party.
Lee said farmers are a core support group for the conservative party and they are expected to be hit hard once the trade accord takes effect.
As farmers have grievances about the deal, the ruling party’s nomination of Kim could backfire, he said.
Kim’s move to join the party comes amid the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) aim to politicize the trade deal.
The DUP urged Seoul and Washington not to implement the trade pact as there are “toxic” elements that are expected to harm the Korean economy.