Former Moon Administration Political Secretary Jeon Byeongheon Leaves Democratic Party... "Fallen into a Royal-Style Faction"

Seems to be affected by nomination rejection... Preparing for election in the third zone

Former Democratic Party lawmaker Jeon Byeong-heon announced his resignation from the party on the 25th. Jeon plans to focus on forming a big tent in the third zone for the time being.

At a press conference held at the National Assembly on the same day, Jeon said, "The various ‘Sip-sang-si groups’ competing to flatter Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung are turning the Democratic Party into a ‘dynastic factional party’," adding, "The Democratic Party, which is solely focused on protecting Leader Lee and competing to show loyalty, is no longer the Democratic Party we know." He continued, "As someone who has been with the Democratic Party for 37 years, I have decided that I cannot join in the self-denial and contradiction of asking to choose a dynastic factional party to judge the prosecutorial dictatorship," and said, "This is the reason I have no choice but to leave the Democratic Party that has been part of my life."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Jeon served as a member of the National Assembly and floor leader for the Democratic Party from the 17th to the 19th National Assembly, and during the Moon Jae-in administration, he served as Senior Secretary for Political Affairs at the Presidential Office. However, he was convicted on bribery charges and regained his eligibility to run for office through a pardon in 2022. He was preparing to run for the April general election to seek party nomination but was disqualified by the party’s Public Official Candidate Verification Committee. It appears that his decision to leave the party was influenced by his failure to secure the nomination.

At the press conference, Jeon claimed, "The Democratic Party, which started with unfair candidate screening and manipulation from the preliminary candidate review stage, has denied its own identity as a party of fairness."

Jeon is expected to prepare for the election in the third zone going forward. After the press conference, he told reporters, "The third zone groups need to make concessions and form a coalition to be readily chosen by the people," adding, "I will play a foundational role in facilitating sufficient meetings and dialogues without boundaries so that the third zone can create a synergistic effect."