"Disqualification from Primary Due to Lawyer Act Violation That Can Be Explained After 20 Years... Harsh Treatment"
Seo Dae-seok, Mayor of Seo-gu, Gwangju, held a press conference at the Gwangju Metropolitan Council on the 7th and announced that he would file an objection to the recent disqualification ruling by the Democratic Party's Gwangju branch.
[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Seo Dae-seok, mayor of Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, who will run for re-election in the simultaneous local elections nationwide on June 1, has filed an objection to the qualification screening with the Democratic Party central committee, claiming that he was deprived of the opportunity to participate in the primary.
On the 7th, Seo held a press conference at the Gwangju Metropolitan Council and stated, "I will correct the mistake of the Gwangju City Party and definitely join the primary to become the Democratic Party candidate."
He continued, "Originally, this event today was arranged to officially declare my challenge for re-election as the Democratic Party candidate for Seo-gu mayor in Gwangju," adding, "However, I am now in a situation where I have to postpone the announcement of my candidacy."
Seo was previously disqualified in a detailed candidate screening by the Democratic Party Gwangju City Party’s Public Official Candidate Recommendation Committee. It is known that his three past drunk driving offenses and a fine for violating the Attorney-at-Law Act were the reasons for the disqualification.
He emphasized, "The Gwangju City Party deprived me of the opportunity to participate in the primary using as a pretext a drunk driving offense from over 20 years ago that does not meet the standards set by the central party, and a violation of the Attorney-at-Law Act that can be sufficiently explained. This is an excessively harsh measure."
Furthermore, he claimed, "As someone who has devoted his entire life to the democratization movement and the Democratic Party, I was elected to public office for the first time after six attempts and seven failures four years ago, and I take pride in having performed the role of mayor excellently. I cannot tolerate the political terrorism of branding a sitting mayor with no disqualifying reasons under the central party’s standards as ineligible."
He also stressed, "Innovation is never about removing your own people."
He added, "Today, I will file an objection to the central party’s preliminary candidate qualification screening," and "I will definitely correct the wrongs and join the primary."
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party Gwangju City Party’s Public Official Candidate Recommendation Committee held a meeting on the 5th and reviewed 60 candidates classified as subjects for detailed screening by the verification committee, disqualifying 12 people including Seo Dae-seok, mayor of Seo-gu.
The committee disqualified those deemed lacking in qualifications as candidates. In particular, anyone caught drunk driving three or more times was unconditionally disqualified. Additionally, those with one or two drunk driving offenses were comprehensively judged if there were other criminal records.
Seo is known to have been caught drunk driving three times between 1996 and 2000.
The central party initially set standards to disqualify those caught drunk driving three times within 15 years, twice within 10 years, or after the enforcement of the Yoon Chang-ho Act (December 18, 2018), but the Gwangju City Party strengthened the standards to meet citizens’ expectations, deciding to disqualify anyone caught drunk driving three times regardless of the period.
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