Anti-U.S. candidate resigns from DP-led coalition as both parties struggle with nominations

General election 2024

Published: 12 Mar. 2024, 18:16 Updated: 12 Mar. 2024, 18:34

Anti-U.S. candidate resigns from DP-led coalition as both parties struggle with nominations

Jeon Ji-yeh, the former first candidate of a coalition of satellite parties led by the Democratic Party, speaks in a protest asking for President Yoon Suk Yeol's resignation held in downtown Seoul on Oct. 8, 2022. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The first candidate for proportional seats in a satellite party coalition led by the liberal Democratic Party (DP) resigned on Tuesday following criticisms of her anti-U.S. stance.

Jeon Ji-yeh, who won the first candidate spot of the coalition on Sunday, wrote in a statement to her splinter party that she decided to not register as the proportional candidate of the DP-led coalition on Tuesday.

The proportional representative candidate No. 1 represents the identity of a political party.

“The conservative press has stigmatized me as someone from a pro-North Korea and anti-U.S. organization,” Jeon wrote. She added that PPP interim leader Han Dong-hoon has undermined the purpose of the public election by referring to her as an individual from an organization that “opposes the Korea-U.S. joint drills” and “demands the dismantlement of the United Nations Command in Korea.”

Jeon wrote that she did not want her candidacy to cause any “unnecessary worries to the public who are hoping for a trial of the Yoon Suk Yeol government” and therefore, chose to resign.

Jeon, a former student president of Seoul National University of Science and Technology, has been embroiled in controversies as she was known to have worked for an anti-U.S. civic group.

The DP also requested a reconsideration of Jeon's candidacy immediately after the splinter party's nomination was made.

Do Tae-woo, an attorney named by the People Power Party for Jung District and Nam District of Dagu, speaks in a press conference to announce his participation in the April 10 general election in Suseong District on Dec. 19, 2023. [NEWS1]

Meanwhile, the nomination committee of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) is also reconsidering the candidacy of attorney Do Tae-woo over his controversial remarks regarding the May 18 Gwangju Uprising.

Do is named as the party’s candidate for Jung and Nam Districts of Daegu.

Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok, secretary general of the PPP, told the local press earlier on Tuesday that the reconsideration of Do’s nomination would be discussed during the committee’s meeting.

He hinted that a prompt decision would be made, stressing that there is not much time left until the general election, set to take place next month.

A day earlier, PPP interim leader Han Dong-hoon also requested the party's nomination committee to reconsider the selection of Do, saying that the candidate's past remarks should be thoroughly reviewed “up to the standards of the public.”

In a YouTube video posted on his channel in 2019, he mentioned that the Gwangju Uprising consisted of “problematic matters” and that the issue of “North Korea’s intervention in the movement is also a matter of concern,” further asserting that an investigation into the event is needed.

“The nomination committee has sternly warned the candidate, and he has also issued an apology statement,” the PPP secretary general said. “However, the public may think this is not enough and may believe that it is still problematic even if the remarks were made in the past."

"The committee will take into account every possible view for the discussion."

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]