Second-ranked audition candidates Joohee Lee and Mihwa Seo re-nominated
At candidate Lee's request, Seo assigned as female number 1
Yongdeok Yoon: "We will conduct interviews by today if possible"
The Citizens' Political Union (Citizens' Union), which holds the recommendation rights for the civil society quota proportional candidates of the opposition proportional alliance party, the Deobureo Minju Yeonhap, re-nominated lawyer Lee Ju-hee and former non-standing commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission Seo Mi-hwa as proportional representation candidates on the 14th, replacing two candidates who resigned after a pro-North Korea controversy.
On the same day, the Citizens' Union delivered an official letter to the Deobureo Minju Yeonhap stating that former non-standing commissioner Seo would be recommended as the number one female candidate, and lawyer Lee as the number two female candidate. Lee, who ranked third in the audition among female candidates, reportedly conveyed to the Deobureo Minju Yeonhap National Candidate Recommendation Screening Committee that "(Candidate Seo) is a person with a disability and has contributed to human rights advancement for a long time," and "I ask Candidate Seo to take the lead position." Reflecting this intention, the ranking was adjusted.
The national candidates proposed by the civil society side to the Deobureo Minju Yeonhap consist of a total of four people: two women and two men. The two female candidates previously selected were Jeon Ji-ye and Jeong Young-i, who ranked first and second among female candidates respectively in the public audition held on the 10th, but they voluntarily resigned on the 12th after their past records became controversial.
Yoon Young-duk, co-representative of the Deobureo Minju Yeonhap, said in a phone call on the 14th, "Once the documents of the re-nominated candidates are received, we plan to conduct interviews as soon as possible today." When asked whether they would attend the interview scheduled for the afternoon, he said, "Since document screening is necessary, the interview time may be flexible."
The Citizens' Union did not re-nominate one male candidate vacancy created by the cut-off (exclusion from nomination) of former Military Human Rights Center director Lim Tae-hoon. Former director Lim ranked second among male candidates in this proportional representation audition, but the Deobureo Minju Yeonhap Nomination Management Committee decided to cut him off due to his past record of evading military service. The Citizens' Union sent a protest letter regarding this, and former director Lim also filed an objection, but it was dismissed.
The re-nomination deadline is tentatively set for noon on the same day, but additional discussions are expected regarding the male candidate recommendation issue. Co-representative Yoon said, "Former director Lim was judged ineligible due to the 'military service evasion item.' There was an opinion that an exception should be applied because it was conscientious objection to military service, but it did not receive two-thirds approval according to the regulations." When asked what the plan would be if re-nomination is not made by noon, he said, "We plan to operate the time flexibly as long as it does not cause any disruption to the candidate registration with the Election Commission."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
