Ahead of the June 1 Local Elections, Democratic Party Seoul Chapter to Conduct Interviews for 25 District Mayoral Candidates from 10 AM on the 17th; Ongoing Fairness Concerns Raised Regarding Dongdaemun District Mayor Election Draw Attention... Party Emergency Committee Response in Focus
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The Democratic Party's Dongdaemun District Mayor election is becoming contentious.
The Seoul Metropolitan Party of the Democratic Party of Korea is conducting interviews for preliminary candidates for the 25 district mayor positions in Seoul starting at 10 a.m. on the 17th, but there has already been ongoing noise surrounding the selection process for the Dongdaemun District Mayor, drawing attention.
First, ahead of the June 1 local elections, controversy arose over allegations that the list of party members eligible to vote for the Dongdaemun District Mayor selection was leaked.
Meanwhile, on the afternoon of the 16th, Lee Hyun-joo, Chairperson of the Dongdaemun District Council, posted on her Facebook page a message requesting “a prompt and fair investigation into the following matters” addressed to Yoon Ho-jung and Park Ji-hyun, emergency committee chairs of the Democratic Party.
Chairperson Lee stated, “In June 2020, two members of the National Assembly from Dongdaemun publicly instructed that a specific district council member be elected as the council chairperson and standing committee chairperson. This is clearly an ‘obstruction of rights through abuse of authority.’”
Nevertheless, many council members opposed this, and the decision was made through autonomous voting. She received 13 out of 18 votes and was elected chairperson.
She further revealed that she filed a disciplinary petition and was eventually expelled in September of that year. Consequently, she expressed frustration that she was even notified as ‘unsuitable’ during the preliminary candidate screening for the June 1 local elections.
Chairperson Lee urged, “Please thoroughly investigate the undemocratic and authoritarian behavior of Assemblyman Jang Kyung-tae through a fair fact-finding process,” adding, “If a thorough investigation is not conducted, I will disclose all evidence to the media.”
Earlier, Yoon Jong-il, a preliminary candidate for Dongdaemun District Mayor, stated in a recent press release, “I have repeatedly heard from people who joined the party supporting me that they received text messages from a specific candidate,” and claimed, “The list I submitted to the party was leaked to the opposing candidate’s side.”
He called for “a responsible investigation by the party.” According to Candidate Yoon, he personally submitted a list of party members recruited mainly among relatives and acquaintances who were asked to join as party members. During the party’s primary preparation process, those members reportedly received continuous text messages under the name of rival Candidate A, asking them to support that candidate instead.
Yoon Jong-il, preliminary candidate for Dongdaemun District Mayor, said, “If the party member list leak is true, it is an act that undermines party democracy and is subject to legal punishment under the Personal Information Protection Act and election laws,” and strongly demanded, “The truth about the leak of the party member list must be thoroughly revealed for a fair and transparent election.”
There are four preliminary candidates for the Democratic Party’s Dongdaemun District Mayor: Kim In-ho, Chairperson of the Seoul Metropolitan Council; Yoon Jong-il, former Director of the Dongdaemun Cultural Center; Ji Yong-ho, former Political Affairs Officer at the Prime Minister’s Office; and Choi Dong-min, former Blue House administrator.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party’s Seoul Metropolitan Party plans to conduct interviews from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the same day for the 25 district mayor preliminary candidates, combine the results with a recently conducted suitability poll, and select and announce either a primary winner or a sole candidate.
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