Justice Party campaign leaders resign en masse amid candidate's seclusion

All key members of the minor progressive Justice Party's presidential election committee offered to resign en masse Thursday, a day after the party's presidential candidate, Sim Sang-jeung, decided to halt her campaign and went into seclusion amid low ratings.

Sim Sang-jeung

"The campaign chief and committee members decided to resign, as they see the current election campaign situation seriously," said Lee Dong-young, chief spokesperson of the party's election committee.

One party official said its presidential election committee is "virtually disbanded," as key campaign leaders tendered their resignations.

The decision came one day after Sim made a surprise announcement that she would suspend her campaign amid her dismal support in opinion polls.

Sim, a four-term lawmaker, earned just 2.2 percent in the latest Hangil Research poll, which put support for main opposition People Power Party's candidate Yoon Suk-yeol at 38 percent against ruling Democratic Party nominee Lee Jae-myung's 35.3 percent.

Sim went into seclusion after her announcement, not responding to phone calls from party officials. She is reportedly staying at her home in Goyang, Gyeonggi.

The Justice Party lawmakers and officials will hold an emergency meeting later in the day to discuss solutions on their campaign situation.

Yonhap