Choi Chi-hyun and Kim Sung-jin Strongly Oppose Cutoff: "Virtually No Different from Single Nomination"

"Cannot Accept Nomination of Lowest-Ranked Candidate in Various Polls"

"Stop Min Hyung-bae's Trick Politics"...Demand for Transparency in Primary Process

Choi Chi-hyun and Kim Sung-jin, preliminary candidates of the Democratic Party for Gwangsan-gu (Eul), Gwangju Metropolitan City, strongly opposed the screening results announced by the Central Party’s Public Office Election Candidate Recommendation Management Committee, stating that "it is practically no different from a single nomination for preliminary candidate Min Hyung-bae."

On the 15th, preliminary candidates Choi Chi-hyun and Kim Sung-jin held an emergency press conference at the Gwangju City Council and announced that they would request a reconsideration.

Preliminary candidate Choi said, “Preliminary candidate Jeong Jae-hyeok, who was confirmed as a primary candidate along with the incumbent lawmaker, was evaluated as the weakest candidate who received the lowest single-digit support in the candidate suitability surveys conducted three times,” adding, “Matching him against the incumbent lawmaker is tantamount to a single nomination in Gwangju.”

He continued, "Can party members and Gwangju citizens accept such an undemocratic and unfair screening announcement?" and emphasized, "This could not have happened without the influence of the incumbent lawmaker."

He also lamented the incumbent premium, saying, "In Gwangsan-gu (Eul), there is a strong public opinion for replacing the incumbent lawmaker who only engages in self-politics and political strife while neglecting the region, and there is a great demand for electing a new local representative. The incumbent lawmaker even violated the Central Party’s illegal election campaign prohibition guidelines by mobilizing elected city and district council members for illegal election campaigns, and there has been no sanction whatsoever."

Furthermore, he added, "The Democratic Party’s Public Office Candidate Recommendation Committee must present a clear and transparent primary process and grounds."

Preliminary candidate Kim Sung-jin also held a press conference and demanded that Representative Min Hyung-bae stop his cunning politics.

Preliminary candidate Kim criticized, "Deciding preliminary candidates as Min Hyung-bae and Jeong Jae-hyeok is a nominal primary but in fact a single recommendation for Min Hyung-bae," adding, "Since there is more than a 30% difference in support rates between the two candidates, holding a cunning primary that wastes costs and time is not honorable. It would be better to simply recommend preliminary candidate Min Hyung-bae alone."

He also pointed out, "The reason for exclusion from the primary is said to be excessive inquiry of party members during the 21st National Assembly election, but this has many problems," adding, "Applying disciplinary actions completed in the 21st election again in the 22nd election is double punishment and problematic, and the Constitution stipulates the principle of ne bis in idem, which means not judging the same matter twice."

He said, "Moreover, the candidate took responsibility for a mistake made by an election staff member and even resigned from the candidacy, so raising this issue again in the next election is excessive punishment and does not comply with the principle of equity."

Regarding preliminary candidate Min Hyung-bae, he said, "In the 21st election, he lost in the primary but overturned the result through cunning tactics and was elected, and there are stories that he used cunning tactics again in the 22nd primary process to choose an easy competitor," demanding, "He should stop cunning politics and show magnanimous politics by requesting the Central Party to allow the second-place candidate to participate in the primary."

Finally, he raised his voice, saying, "Leading candidates in each constituency of Gwangju continue to be excluded from nominations, causing growing public dissatisfaction among Gwangju citizens," and urged, "The Democratic Party should not take the public sentiment of Gwangju citizens lightly and must listen carefully."

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party’s Central Party Public Office Election Candidate Recommendation Management Committee announced the nomination screening results for 24 constituencies that morning.

In Gwangju Dong-gu Nam-gu (Eul), incumbent lawmaker Lee Byung-hoon and former Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance Ahn Do-geol were announced as candidates, and in Gwangsan-gu (Eul), incumbent lawmaker Min Hyung-bae and former senior administrative officer at the Blue House Jeong Jae-hyeok were announced as the two-person lineup. It is also known that former Dong-gu Mayor Kim Sung-hwan, who was cut off in Dongnam-eul, will request reconsideration.