I am an editorial writer at The Korea Times, focusing on foreign policy, North Korea and domestic politics. My key areas of interest include North Korea, foreign interference in elections, election integrity, cyberattacks and human rights. Prior to joining the Editorial Board, I served as both Politics Desk editor and Culture Desk editor. During my career, I have reported on the Presidential Office under the Lee Myung-bak administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Assembly.
'Rebellious' candidates become headaches for parties
Former lawmaker Kim Jin-tae, left, meets Lee Jun-seok, the chairman of the main opposition People Power Party, while on a hunger strike protesting the party's decision not to hold an internal primary, in a tent set up in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of Kim Jin-tae
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Divided vote is bipartisan concern as parties kick off selections for June 1 local elections
By Kang Hyun-kyung
“Fasting: Day 3. Being hungry is tough to endure. But finding peace in my mind is tougher,” former lawmaker Kim Jin-tae tweeted on Sunday, reflecting his struggle to control his anger.
His social media post was uploaded hours before he held a press conference to urge the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) to hold a primary to select its candidate to run in the election for the governor of Gangwon Province and cancel its earlier top-down decision to give President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's aide the green light to run in the actual election without an internal competition.
Kim said he was told that the PPP's committee had disqualified him as his past disparaging remarks about the May 18 Uprising in the southern city of Gwangju and active involvement in right-wing rallies to fight for the release of then-jailed former President Park Geun-hye would do a disservice to the conservative party's effort to unify its voters ― amid a national electorate that is polarized politically, as seen in the March 9 presidential election results. Yoon Suk-yeol, then PPP's candidate, beat his Democratic Party of Korea rival, Lee Jae-myung, by a razor-thin margin of 0.7 percentage point.
Meanwhile, the PPP committee recommended former KBS anchor Hwang Sang-moo as its candidate for the Gangwon Provincial election for the party's decision-making Supreme Council. If the Supreme Council members approve, Hwang will be officially confirmed as the PPP's candidate for the gubernatorial election of the eastern province. Hwang is President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's aide, having served as his TV debate coach during the presidential election.
Regarding the selection committee's decision, Kim said he was not convinced.
“What they said is nonsensical,” he said, noting that he was ruled out without even having an opportunity to compete with other contenders in a preliminary race. He went on to say that he leads public opinion surveys conducted of Gangwon residents, but he was forced to drop out of the election because of another candidate whose ratings in polls fall far behind his.
He launched a sit-in hunger strike on Thursday in a tent set up in front of the National Assembly, demanding that the PPP reconsider the committee's recommendation.
The PPP's Supreme Council members are scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss the selection committee's candidate recommendations. Depending on the results, Kim may be allowed to compete with other contenders in an internal race.
PPP leader Lee Jun-seok paid a visit to Kim on Friday, mentioning that the Supreme Council members may request that the selection committee review its decisions again.
Kim is one of the rebellious politicians who appealed the decision made by his party's selection committee. In every election, parties have wrestled with candidates who refuse to accept their decisions and even threaten to leave to run as independent candidates. If that happens, a divided vote is inevitable, so parties struggle to minimize the fallout.
Former Ulsan mayor Park Maeng-woo is another such figure. Like Kim, he was eliminated in the PPP selection committee's internal review of the candidates to run in the Ulsan mayoral election. But he said that his application was rejected without any explanation from the committee.
“This is unacceptable,” he said, threatening to run in the June 1 election as an independent candidate. Park paid a visit to Kim during the latter's protest in front of the National Assembly in solidarity.
The candidate selection process for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has also been criticized for similar reasons as the PPP.
Song Ha-jin, the two-term governor of North Jeolla Province who is seeking a third term, appealed to the DPK's selection committee for its decision to remove him from the list of candidates to run in the June 1 local elections.
On Sunday, his supporters gathered in the North Jeolla Provincial Assembly to urge the DPK to withdraw its selection committee's decision to take the current governor off of the list of candidates competing in its internal primary to select the candidate to run in the gubernatorial election.
“We've seen what happened in the DPK which is cruel and murderous as it took the political life of the current governor. We're shocked because the DPK was supposed to be just and fair but in fact it was not,” they said in a statement.
They called on the DPK to allow Song to participate in the primary so that he can compete in the internal race to determine the party's candidate to run in the election. They also urged the ruling party to expel those who conducted such a closed-door candidate screening process instead of the regular systematic candidate screening process.