Ex-lawmaker Yoo Seong-min not running in PPP primaries for presidential election

Former lawmaker Yoo Seong-min speaks during a press conferencein Daegu, April 11. Yonhap

Four-term lawmaker Yoo Seong-min announced Sunday he will not run in the People Power Party (PPP) primaries for the upcoming presidential election, saying the right-wing party hasn't learned its lesson even after the impeachments of two conservative presidents.

"The party has refused to take the path of proper self-reflection and change, even though conservative presidents have been impeached consecutively," Yoo wrote in a Facebook message, referring to Park Geun-hye and Yoon Suk Yeol. It was Yoon's ouster on April 4 in light of his short-lived martial law imposition that led to the scheduling of the presidential election for June 3.

"There is no sense of urgency (at the party)," Yoo added. "I wonder if they are even interested in trying to beat Lee Jae-myung."

Lee, former Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) chairman, is favored to win the DPK primaries and also the June 3 election.

"I am outraged at how they have already assumed the loss in the presidential election, and they're obsessed with vested rights after that loss," Yoo continued. "Rather than trying to expand their conservative foothold toward the middle, they are only making it smaller. Their behavior has left me speechless."

Yoo said he will still remain "a true conservative" and will try to rebuild conservatism "with reasonable and rational people."

Yoo finished fourth in the 2017 presidential election when he ran for the central-right Bareun Party.