Woo Won-sik Withdraws from Democratic Party Floor Leader Race... Narrowed to 3-Way Contest vs Candidate Unification

Election of Next Floor Leader on 26th
Rep. Woo Urges 3 Candidates to "Unite as a Single Candidate"

On the 26th, Woo Won-sik, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, announced that he would not run in the upcoming floor leader election. The race has been narrowed down to a 'three-way contest' among Kim Min-seok, Nam In-soon, and Hong Ik-pyo, drawing attention to the possibility of a 'unified candidate' to promote party unity.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the morning of the floor leader election day, Woo issued a statement saying, "I hope efforts to protect the Democratic Party and Representative Lee Jae-myung will unite," and announced, "I have decided not to run in the floor leader election."

He explained his reason for not running, saying, "The Democratic Party is in crisis. There was a sincere request from members to protect the Democratic Party and Representative Lee Jae-myung during this crisis and to elect a floor leader who will simultaneously achieve reform and unity. I deeply empathized with the hope that the election of the floor leader should contribute to party unity, not be a confrontation through competition. As someone who has already served as floor leader, after much consideration, I could not register as a candidate out of responsibility."

He continued, "However, I hoped that the energy of unity, which was difficultly gathered around the party leader at this critical moment, would not dissipate, and I tried to prevent that, but the election became inevitable. In this grave time, I still believe it is time to unite our strength through a single candidate rather than a competitive election for the sake of party unity. I sincerely hope that my stepping down will be the start of that."

He also urged the remaining three candidates?Kim Min-seok, Nam In-soon, and Hong Ik-pyo?to make a decision on unification. Woo said, "I appeal to the three candidates. I hope you choose the path of reform and unity through candidate unification to protect the Democratic Party and Representative Lee Jae-myung and wisely overcome the party’s crisis."

Initially, all four candidates, including Woo, were classified as 'pro-Lee Jae-myung faction,' and it was expected that whoever won would strengthen Representative Lee’s leadership while intensifying opposition to the government. In particular, Woo attracted attention as he had previously served as floor leader for one year starting in May 2017, making him a candidate for the first-ever 're-election as floor leader.' It is known that he registered as a candidate after receiving calls to run from pro-Lee faction lawmakers.

However, on the day of the election, Woo declared his withdrawal while urging candidate unification, narrowing the next floor leader election to a three-way contest. It remains to be seen whether the remaining three candidates will respond to Woo’s call for unification before the election.

The Democratic Party will hold the '21st National Assembly 4th Floor Leader By-election Members’ Meeting' at 2 p.m. at the National Assembly to elect the next floor leader. The winner will be decided by a majority vote of the members present. If no candidate receives a majority, a runoff vote will be held, and the candidate with the most votes in the runoff will be elected.