Im Hyuk-baek, Opposition Public Relations Committee Chair, "No Plan to Deduct Points for More Than Three Terms, Old Boys"

On the 21st, Im Hyuk-baek, the chairman of the Nomination Management Committee, is entering the Democratic Party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, for a meeting of the committee chairpersons.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Im Hyuk-baek, chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea's Public Office Candidate Recommendation Management Committee (Gonggwanwi), stated that there is absolutely no plan to create categories such as 'more than three terms,' 'old boys,' or '586' to deduct points during candidate screening.

At a press briefing held on the 21st at the party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, Chairman Im said, "Among those individuals, there are some who should run for the sake of the party and the country."

He explained, "There is no uniform standard such as '586 is not allowed,' 'more than three terms is not allowed,' or 'old boys are not allowed.' We have never set criteria that discriminate against those people, and we will not set such criteria in the future."

He added, "I understand that there is public opinion suggesting it would be better to open opportunities to the younger generation with the spirit of putting the party before personal interests and prioritizing the public good. There is only a hope that, like Representative Kim Min-ki, who declared he would not run, others might voluntarily give up their seats."

He said, "Out of 651 people reviewed by the verification committee, 21 were judged unqualified, which is an extremely small portion. Most simply moved on to the Gonggwanwi. I will conduct the actual screening. It will be done fairly by the system regardless of faction."

Regarding the moral verification by the Gonggwanwi, he said the plan is to focus on the 'five major hate crimes.' These include sexual crimes, drunk driving, workplace bullying, school violence, and hate speech.

Regarding Yoon Yong-jo, former deputy director of the party leader's office, who demanded that officials from the Moon Jae-in administration not run in the general election, he prefaced that it was a personal opinion and said, "It is something without any merit or value. Officials from the Moon Jae-in administration make up a significant part of the Democratic Party, and the Gonggwanwi does not intend to exclude such comrades wholesale."