Deputy Speaker Kim Young-joo joins PPP after leaving DP

General election 2024

Published: 04 Mar. 2024, 20:03

Deputy Speaker Kim Young-joo joins PPP after leaving DP

People Power Party (PPP) interim leader Chairman Han Dong-hoon, left, presents National Assembly Deputy Speaker Kim Young-joo, who recently defected from the Democratic Party, a new party jacket in a ceremony welcoming her to the PPP at its headquarter in Yeouido, western Seoul, Monday. [NEWS1]

National Assembly Deputy Speaker Kim Young-joo, a four-term liberal lawmaker, joined the conservative People Power Party (PPP) on Monday.

Last month, Kim defected from the majority Democratic Party (DP) after the party notified her that she had ranked within the bottom 20 percent in terms of parliamentary activities, which hindered her chance of a nomination ahead of the April 10 general elections.

Kim was welcomed by PPP interim leader Chairman Han Dong-hoon in a ceremony marking her official joining of the party of President Yoon Suk Yeol.

She said she will do her best to "achieve victory" in next month's parliamentary elections.

The former basketball player was recruited to joint politics by late President Kim Dae-jung and first became a proportional representative in 2004. She was later elected to three more terms as a lawmaker representing Yeongdeungpo A District and became former President Moon Jae-in's first minister of employment and labor.

Her defection comes as the rift within the liberal DP widens between those aligned with DP Chairman Lee Jae-myung and those who aren't.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]