86 Candidates on CAGE's Rejection List

The Citizens' Allicance for 2000 General Elections (CAGE) announced its 86 black-listed candidates as part of its rejection campaign. CAGE pointed out that it will select 22 of these candidates and launch a viogorous rejection campaign.

Military service, tax payment, and criminal records among other variables are expected to play a major role in all the candidates' future as well as in CAGE's rejection campaign. The Central Election Management Committee and the prosecution announced that they will keep a close eye out for any unfair rejection campaigns, predicting the possibility of collusion between civic and public power, let alone the conflicts between CAGE and the candidates.

CAGE held a press conference in Chungdong Event Hall in Jung-gu Seoul. A total of 86 candidates, mired in scandals including corruption, irregularities, Election Law violations, histories of human right infringments, and instigators of regional antagonism, had their names unveiled.

Among the candidates, 16 belonged to the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP), 28 to the Grand National Party (GNP), 18 to the United Liberal Democrats (ULD), 8 to the Hopeful New Korea Party, and 13 independent candidates. The candidates to be subjected to intense rejection campaigns included 7 MDP members, 9 GNP, 4 ULD, and 2 from the Democratic People's Party.

In addition to the 86 accused candidates, Lim Bok-jin and Kang Hyun-uk of the MDP, and Park Seung-guk and Cho Jin-hyong of the GNP were selected as the targets of rejection campaigns by local CAGE members.

Choi Yul, a CAGE corepresentative stated, "We will use all possible methods, including staging of street campaigns and informing votors by phone or e-mail, to prevent undeserving candidates from winning a seat."

The rejection campaign will be focused particularly in districts of big cities, like Pusan, Taegu, and Kwangju, which are deemed as strategic locations and will be jointly staged by central and local CAGE groups.

by Moon Kyung-ran