"Don't Make a Scapegoat Just Because of Pro-North Korea Sentiment"… An Min-seok Opposes 'Cutoff'

"All 5 Wins by 15%p Margin... Confident in the General Election"

Democratic Party lawmaker An Min-seok (5-term, Osan, Gyeonggi) opposed the party's decision to exclude him from the nomination for the general election, saying, "An Min-seok should not be made a scapegoat just because of being pro-Myeong or to appease factional conflicts."

On the 29th, An posted a statement titled 'Position on the Announcement of the Strategic Nominee for Osan Area' on his Facebook, saying, "The central party did not accept my request for a primary opportunity, and there is no reasonable explanation from the central party."

Ahn Min-seok, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

He said, "I have won all five times in Osan by more than 15 percentage points. I am confident of a landslide victory in this general election as well," and pointed out, "If it is a political judgment by the party, shouldn't that political judgment also be fair to everyone to maintain equity?"

He continued, "In the last Osan mayoral election, the unilateral strategic nomination by the central party caused division in the region, resulting in defeat, and the wounds still remain," adding, "Osan party members who remember the pain from two years ago find it difficult to accept the strategic nomination decision. Shouldn't the party be able to provide a reasonable explanation to the Osan party comrades and supporters who have trusted and followed me?"

An requested the party leadership to reconsider the 'cut-off.' He said, "I pride myself on having fought at the forefront for the Democratic Party," and urged, "Please reconsider the strategic nomination for Osan with the desperate desire to win the general election in Osan."

Meanwhile, on the same day, the Democratic Party cut off An Min-seok, along with lawmakers Ki Dong-min (2-term) and Hong Young-pyo (4-term), from the nomination for the April 10 general election. In Osan, Gyeonggi, Cha Ji-ho, a recruited talent and professor at KAIST Graduate School of Future Strategy, was strategically nominated, and in Seoul Seongbuk-eul, the district of Ki, recruited talent lawyer Kim Nam-geun was strategically nominated. In Incheon Bupyeong-eul, Hong Young-pyo was excluded from the nomination, and recruited talent Park Seon-won, former 1st Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service, and proportional representative lawmaker Lee Dong-joo were set to compete in a primary.