Civil Society and National Recommendation Review Committee All Resign
Candidate Im Tae-hoon Protests 'Military Service Evasion' Disqualification Ruling
Civil society groups participating in the satellite party for proportional representation led by the Democratic Party of Korea, called the "Democratic Union," have protested the cut-off of former Military Human Rights Center director Im Tae-hoon. With all members of the National Candidate Recommendation Screening Committee resigning, the possibility of a split is also being raised.
The Screening Committee, which recommends and reviews proportional representation candidates on behalf of the Coalition Political Citizens' Meeting (hereinafter civil society), stated in a press release on the 15th, "We protest the disqualification decision against former director Im Tae-hoon and all 10 standing members of the screening committee have decided to resign," adding, "The Democratic Union judged former director Im as disqualified due to 'military service evasion,' which is an unreasonable act that disregards human rights and condones discrimination."
Kim Sang-geun, Chairperson of the National Candidate Recommendation Screening Committee of the Democratic United Party, a satellite proportional party of the pan-opposition bloc, and Park Seok-woon, Co-Chairperson of the Citizens' Committee for Political Reform and Realization of Coalition Politics (left), are seated at the emergency meeting of the National Candidate Recommendation Screening Committee held on the morning of the 14th at the Roh Moo-hyun Citizen Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]
The Screening Committee pointed out, "The Democratic Party, which is leading the Democratic Union's nomination management committee, has been spearheading legislation on alternative military service in accordance with rulings from the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court," and added, "Even leader Lee Jae-myung has repeatedly stated that 'our country should now introduce alternative service and recognize conscientious objection to military service.'" They further emphasized, "This is a clear discrimination and a self-rejection of the spirits of Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, and Moon Jae-in, who emphasized freedom of conscience and human rights. The Democratic Party, a key pillar of the coalition politics, has violated the spirit of consensus of the democratic reform progressive electoral alliance by disqualifying a national candidate based on discriminatory and regressive standards after abandoning recognition of diversity."
Former director Im Tae-hoon was selected as one of the four national candidates recommended by civil society but was excluded due to his past imprisonment for conscientious objection to military service. He was judged as 'military service evasion' rather than 'military service refusal.' Subsequently, the Democratic Union completed interviews for 29 proportional representation candidates excluding Im and requested civil society to re-nominate a candidate following Im's cut-off. The Screening Committee rejected this decision and re-nominated Im, but the Democratic Union repeatedly refused the re-nomination.
As discord continues over the proportional representation candidates recommended by civil society, signs of cracks within the Democratic Union are emerging. Previously, civil society recommended Jeon Ji-ye, a finance justice coalition operating committee member who ranked first or second in the national audition for women, and Jung Young-i, chairman of the Gurye County Farmers' Association of the National Farmers' Federation. However, issues were raised regarding their anti-American and pro-North Korea activities, leading the Democratic Party side to request re-nominations. Subsequently, lawyer Lee Joo-hee and former non-standing member of the National Human Rights Commission Seo Mi-hwa were newly selected, but lawyer Lee's history of advocating for the abolition of the National Security Law has also become controversial.
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