[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Seoyoung] Amid ongoing calls for Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung, a Democratic Party presidential primary candidate, to resign from his gubernatorial post, attention has turned to the cases of local government heads who previously ran for president.
According to political circles on the 15th, six metropolitan governors who challenged the presidency in the 2017 election?Hong Joon-pyo, Governor of Gyeongsangnam-do; Ahn Hee-jung, Governor of Chungcheongnam-do; Kim Kwan-young, Governor of Gyeongsangbuk-do; Nam Kyung-pil, Governor of Gyeonggi-do; and Choi Sung, Mayor of Goyang?maintained their local government positions until the primaries concluded. Similarly, during the 18th presidential election in 2012, Kim Moon-soo, Governor of Gyeonggi-do, also participated in the primaries while retaining his gubernatorial post.
Notably, among them, Hong Joon-pyo, who was ultimately selected as the Liberty Korea Party’s presidential candidate in both the 18th and 19th presidential elections, resigned just three minutes before the legal deadline for public officials to step down. At the time, he stated, "I had to prevent the waste of hundreds of billions of won of taxpayers’ money on a by-election caused by my resignation."
On the other hand, there have been cases where officials who resigned to run for president faced criticism from within their parties and local constituents. Kim Du-kwan, then Governor of Gyeongsangnam-do, resigned from his post to participate in the Democratic United Party’s primary for the 18th presidential election but finished third in the final primary, drawing criticism from residents.
Currently, candidates from both ruling and opposition parties are urging Governor Lee, who is running in the presidential primary while retaining his gubernatorial position, to stop using the "governor’s advantage" and to resign. Especially after Lee announced disaster relief payments to all residents, critics have condemned this as vote-buying and increased pressure on him. However, some argue that considering past cases, it may not be necessary for Lee to resign from his post.
Earlier, on the 6th, Lee stated in a meeting with reporters, "The governorship is a responsibility entrusted to me by 13.8 million residents." He also maintained a firm stance, saying, "If I must choose between completing the primary and retaining the governorship, I will defend my position as governor."
Meanwhile, according to Article 53 of the Public Official Election Act, incumbent public officials must resign from their current positions at least 90 days before the election date to run as presidential candidates. In Lee’s case, he can legally maintain his governorship until December 9.
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