Ex-Moon aide leaves DPK leadership in protest of candidate nomination process

Rep. Ko Min-jung speaks during a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

Rep. Ko Min-jung, a member of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) Supreme Council, quit her post Tuesday in protest at what she said was her party's untrustworthy candidate nomination process for the April 10 general elections.

"I am stepping down from the position of Supreme Council member starting today," she said during a press conference held at the National Assembly.

"I believe that the current crisis needs to be overcome by the leadership taking responsibility, engaging in intense discussions and mitigating the current state of conflict."

She added, "However, the response that came back to me was to step down from the Supreme Council."

Ko did not attend Monday's council meeting in an apparent protest against the party leadership's response to the controversies surrounding the nomination process.

Her abrupt resignation signals a deepening factional rift within the party, with an increasing number of DPK members expressing discontent over the perceived unfairness of the nomination process, particularly for those not aligned with the party's leader, Rep. Lee Jae-myung.

Ko, a news presenter-turned-politician who previously served as the presidential spokesperson under the previous Moon Jae-in government, is known as a figure outside the pro-Lee faction.

Her announcement came hours after the party's decision to exclude Im Jong-seok, another former Moon aide, from the nomination process.

The DPK's nomination committee rejected Im's application to run in Seoul's Jung-Seongdong District, instead nominating Jeon Hyun-heui, a former Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission chair. Im had previously served two terms as the representative of the district.

With about 40 days remaining until the elections, the so-called "nomination massacre" is causing upheaval within the DPK, with some of its members saying that the party's nomination committee is marginalizing members outside the pro-Lee faction.

Rep. Sul Hoon, a five-term lawmaker critical of Lee, said Tuesday that he is considering leaving the party after being informed that he ranked in the bottom 10 percent in the lawmakers' evaluation.

Last week, Rep. Kim Young-joo, a four-term lawmaker and deputy National Assembly speaker, left the party after being categorized as being in the lower 20 percent. Rep. Lee Su-jin also parted ways with the DPK after the party rejected her bid to run in her current constituency of Seoul's Dongjak-B.