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Ex-DPK floor leader leaves party in protest over candidate nominations

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Rep. Hong Young-pyo, center, a four-term lawmaker, is surrounded by reporters after a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, March 6. Yonhap

Rep. Hong Young-pyo, center, a four-term lawmaker, is surrounded by reporters after a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, March 6. Yonhap

Rep. Hong Young-pyo quit the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) on Wednesday, becoming the sixth lawmaker to leave the DPK in protest after being eliminated from the party's nominations for April's general elections.

Hong, a former floor leader of the DPK and a close confidant of former President Moon Jae-in, failed to win the party's ticket for his constituency in Incheon's Bupyeong B district after being placed on the list of underperformers in terms of legislative activity.

The four-term lawmaker is the sixth legislator to leave the DPK over the controversial nomination process that critics say is designed to eliminate those outside the party's mainstream faction of loyalists to Chairman Lee Jae-myung.

During a press conference to announce his departure, Hong said the DPK is bent on removing opponents from the party, rather than winning the April 10 parliamentary elections, and denounced the party's nomination process as a "political massacre."

"I'm leaving the fake Democratic Party of Korea, where democracy is gone," Hong said.

Earlier, Hong also said the DPK won't be able to secure a victory in the upcoming elections.

"Chairman Lee says the party aims to win 151 seats, but I'm pretty skeptical about it," he said on BBS radio. "Chances are high that the DPK will suffer a crushing defeat."

During the conference, he also floated the possibility of aligning with a group of lawmakers who left the DPK before him and possibly joining hands with the New Future Party (Saemirae), spearheaded by former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon.

"We need to gather forces with everyone who is against Chairman Lee's attempt to privatize the DPK and those who seek to pass a judgment on the administration of President Yoon Suk Yeol," he said. "Of course we should also work together with the New Future Party." (Yonhap)