The Democratic Party of Korea on May 4 stepped up its criticism of the People Power Party’s nominations for the June 3 local elections, with party leader Jung Cheong-rae calling them, in his words, a declaration of a return to a “Yoon Again party.”
Speaking at an on-site Supreme Council meeting in Busan, Jung said the lineup of nominees was “shocking,” and asked whether the party was nominating “remnants” or the “main body” of an insurrection, and whether it was trying to “stage another insurrection” by nominating “insurrection collaborators.”
He said he was angry that such figures were returning to the center of power “without remorse,” and demanded the party immediately withdraw the nominations of “insurrection collaborators.”
On the possibility that the People Power Party could nominate Jeong Jin-seok, described in the article as a former presidential chief of staff, Jung pointed to comments by South Chungcheong Gov. Kim Tae-heum, saying Kim appeared to be signaling a decision to split from the party. Jung asked whether the party would press ahead with Jeong’s nomination. Kim said on May 2 that if Jeong’s nomination became reality, he would accept even leaving the party and running as an independent.
Supreme Council member Hwang Myung-sun also criticized what he called “Yoon Again” nominations. He said the People Power Party was regrouping a “Yoon Suk Yeol-style Hanahoe” through its nominations for the June 3 local elections and by-elections, and said nominating Lee Jin-sook, Lee Yong and Kim Tae-gyu amounted to “clear support for an insurrection.”
He said putting forward people who “should be standing in court” as candidates was an insult to the public and to democracy.
The meeting was also attended by Jeon Jae-soo, the party’s Busan mayoral candidate, and Ha Jung-woo, a candidate for the Buk-gu Gap parliamentary seat in Busan, who pledged to win their races.
Jeon, speaking about relocating HMM’s headquarters to Busan, said the move would not be the end, adding that more shipping, logistics, finance, legal, service and future-industry companies would move to the city. “From now on is the real start,” he said, adding that if the HMM move opened the way, the flow should spread across Busan’s economy.
Ha said he would make Busan’s Buk-gu district the nation’s leading hub for AI education, and said he would be a strong growth engine for the district’s development.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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