DP chief Lee, former justice minister Cho to join forces in April elections

Politics

Published: 05 Mar. 2024, 17:57

DP chief Lee, former justice minister Cho to join forces in April elections

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, left, shakes hands with former Justice Minister Cho Kuk at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Tuesday. [JUN MIN-KYU]

Lee Jae-myung, chief of the liberal Democratic Party (DP), and former Justice Minister Cho Kuk agreed to join forces on Tuesday for the upcoming April general elections, vowing to subject the Yoon Suk Yeol administration to the voters’ scrutiny.

Cho, a former law professor at Seoul National University, recently founded his own splinter political party.

The DP initially seemed reluctant to join hands with the former senior presidential secretary for civil affairs and justice minister to President Moon Jae-in.

After being convicted of power abuse and obstruction by an appellate court last month, Cho launched his own political party to counter "prosecutorial dictatorship.”

“Both parties share the same mission to terminate and dissect the tyranny of the Yoon administration and to provide hope to the Korean people,” Lee said during Cho’s courtesy visit to the National Assembly on the same day.

“Political forces hoping to put the Yoon administration on a test bed should align,” Lee said.

“The new party will boldly carry out political campaigns the DP finds difficult to put into full-scale action,” Cho said.

He further promised to motivate liberal voters to cast their ballots through an election campaign with slogans like “End the prosecutorial dictatorship” and “Bring Kim Keon Hee to court.”

First lady Kim Keon Hee has been accused of receiving a luxury bag and manipulating stock price.

“I hope the DP would win in the elections by drawing votes from moderates and rational conservatives who are disappointed with the Yoon administration in each electoral district through head-to-head races" against the conservative People Power Party, Cho added.

“With such coordination, the liberals can break free from the malfeasance of Yoon and the prosecutorial authorities.”

Cho’s comments suggest his party will focus on winning seats allocated for proportional representation while backing the DP in regional constituencies.

After the April general elections, of 300 seats at the National Assembly, 254 will be reserved for lawmakers representing regional constituencies. Party-listed figures will take the remaining 46 seats according to proportional representation.

According to someone who joined the private talks between two politicians, Lee said, “We should win together.”

However, the DP spokesperson, Han Min-soo, said no “detailed comments” were made about election strategies related to regional constituencies and proportional representation during their behind-the-curtain talks.

Former presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok leaves a press conference at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Feb. 28, a day after he failed to be nominated for the upcoming April general elections. [JOONGANG PHOTO]

On Monday, former presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok — considered a member of the DP's pro-Moon faction — said that he "accepts" the party’s decision of not addressing his request to reconsider his election nomination.

The DP excluded Im from the nomination for the April elections on Feb. 27. Since then, the party has been facing criticisms that its factional infighting ends up giving favorable treatment to pro-Lee figures while sidelining others.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG, JEONG HYE-JEONG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]