[Asia Economy reporters Lee Ji-eun and Kim Hye-min] As the nomination results for the Busan-Gyeongnam (PK) region of the United Future Party are being released starting today, senior figures of the party, former Liberty Korea Party leader Hong Joon-pyo and former Gyeongnam Governor Kim Tae-ho, find themselves in an uneasy situation. On the other hand, Lee Eon-ju, a member of the Future Forward 4.0 faction who joined the United Future Party, has received a green light for nomination despite controversies arising in the Busan region. Amid the confusion surrounding the United Future Party’s nominations, the proportional representation party, the Future Korea Party, also completed the formation of its nomination committee today and is set to begin proportional representation nominations.
The United Future Party’s Nomination Management Committee held a closed meeting at an undisclosed location in Yeouido on the morning of the 27th. Since they plan to announce the nomination results sequentially starting today alongside additional interviews, it is speculated that they were organizing opinions. It is also anticipated that the decision on the general election candidacies of Hong and Kim is imminent.
Their candidacies have been regarded as the first major task since the launch of the nomination committee. This is because the party’s internal demand that leading candidates run in difficult constituencies in the Seoul metropolitan area stood in direct opposition to the committee’s declared direction of innovative nominations. After a power struggle, Hong shifted his direction to run in a difficult PK district. However, despite Kim Hyung-oh, the committee chairman, responding with “half a harvest,” no conclusion has been reached even a week after the committee interviews.
Since the committee reiterated the principle of innovative nominations the day before, it is expected to apply strict standards in deciding their candidacies. Despite Chairman Kim’s coaxing and persuasion, former Governor Kim, who has not given up his intention to run in his hometown, is likely to be drafted to a difficult PK district. This would mean forced nomination in Changwon Seongsan or Gimhae-eul as requested by the committee. In this case, the Gyeongnam districts of Sancheong, Hamyang, Hapcheon, and Geochang would be automatically cut off (excluded from nomination). Regarding Hong’s candidacy, the committee is expected to continue last-minute deliberations over nominating him in Yangsan, Gyeongnam, or cutting him off in the same PK manner as Kim.
For Lee Eon-ju, who is rumored to be strategically nominated in Busan Jung and Yeongdo, a green light for nomination has been given. At a briefing held at the National Assembly on the 26th, Chairman Kim said, “We will closely examine the roles of all those hoping for nomination in the recent three years of another democratization struggle,” adding, “We must remember those who threw themselves wholeheartedly when the world was in turmoil and the country was heading down the wrong path.” This is interpreted as referring to Lee, who led street protests at the forefront of the anti-Moon Jae-in coalition. On the 26th, Gwak Gyu-taek, a preliminary candidate competing in the same district as Lee, held a head-shaving protest at the Busan Yeongdo Bridge, criticizing Lee as a “political parasite” and demanding a fair primary.
As the United Future Party’s nominations are unveiled, the Future Korea Party also finalized its nomination committee today and will begin full-scale proportional representation nominations. The confirmed committee members are
Jo Hun-hyun, secretary-general of the Future Korea Party; Jin Hyun-sook, former deputy head of MBC’s 50th anniversary planning team; Kim Dong-heon, professor of economics at Korea University; Park Ji-na, a Korean medicine doctor; lawyer So Ri-na; and Kwon Hye-jin, CEO of Sejong Innovation, forming a seven-member committee together with chairman Gong Byung-ho.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
