[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] Former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon criticized the Democratic Party of Korea for holding a party member vote before amending the party constitution to nominate candidates for the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections scheduled for April next year, saying, "If I do it, it's romance; if you do it, it's an affair."
On the 31st, former professor Jin shared archival footage on his Facebook showing President Moon Jae-in speaking in October 2015 when he was the leader of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, expressing this view.
The footage shows President Moon, who was campaigning for the by-election for the mayor of Goseong County, Gyeongnam Province at the time, saying, "The Saenuri Party irresponsibly put forward a candidate here in Goseong again and is asking for votes."
The Goseong County mayoral by-election at that time was held after former Goseong County Mayor Ha Hak-ryeol of the Saenuri Party lost his position due to violating the Public Official Election Act. The Democratic Party then criticized the Saenuri Party, saying they should not field a candidate.
On this day, former professor Jin criticized the Democratic Party's changed stance after five years.
Meanwhile, Article 96, Paragraph 2 of the Democratic Party's constitution stipulates, "If an elected official belonging to the party loses their position due to serious misconduct such as corruption, the party shall not recommend a candidate for the subsequent by-election."
Accordingly, public opinion was largely in favor of not nominating candidates this time since the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections arose from the faults of former mayors belonging to the Democratic Party.
However, on the 29th, the Democratic Party decided at a policy lawmakers' meeting to amend the party constitution and field candidates in the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections. Starting from the 31st, a party-wide vote on whether to amend the constitution began. The vote on the amendment will continue until November 1, and if the amendment is approved, the revision process is expected to be completed next week.
In response to this decision, the victim side of the Park Won-soon sexual harassment case has sent an open inquiry letter to Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon.
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