Minju, Jeong Bong-ju Absent in Gangbuk... 'Park Yong-jin·Jo Su-jin' Two-Candidate Primary Election

Online Voting on 18-19th
Park Yong-jin '30% Deduction for Bottom 30% Evaluation'
Jo Su-jin '25% Bonus for Female Newcomers'

Former Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Jeong Bong-ju withdrew his candidacy for the Seoul Gangbuk district, leading the Democratic Party of Korea to decide on the general election candidate through a one-on-one primary between incumbent lawmaker Park Yong-jin and attorney Jo Su-jin.

On the 17th, Ahn Gyu-baek, head of the Strategic Nomination Management Committee, announced this at a briefing at the party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul. The primary will be held online from the 18th to the 19th, with 70% of votes coming from nationwide party members and 30% from Gangbuk district party members.

A total of 27 candidates applied for the Seoul Gangbuk district nomination, which closed at midnight the previous day. It is also known that attorney Lee Seung-hoon and Han Min-soo, spokesperson of the pro-Lee Jae-myung faction, who previously participated in the primary, applied as well.

Park Yong-jin, Democratic Party of Korea / Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

Regarding this, Chairman Ahn explained, "Applicants from other regions and proportional representation candidates were excluded," adding, "We considered a preferential voting method, but given the system implementation and tight schedule, we judged it difficult to apply at this time, so we chose a stable primary method with a one-on-one race."

Attorney Jo previously served as a director at the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, secretary-general of the Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun), and aide to Unified Progressive Party leader Lee Jeong-hee. As a female newcomer, she receives up to a 25% bonus in the primary.

Chairman Ahn dismissed objections from Park regarding the application of a '30% deduction in primary votes' penalty, which is imposed on the bottom 10% of incumbent lawmakers, to the strategic primary as well, stating, "No candidate is exempt as it is clearly stipulated in the party constitution, and the Strategic Nomination Committee cannot alter or revise this provision."

Earlier, at a National Assembly press conference, Park opposed the penalty, saying, "Applying the 30% deduction, which was carried through to the runoff, again in the completely new setting of the strategic primary is an unreasonable interpretation not found in the party constitution or regulations," and added, "A primary vote limited only to party members violates the party constitution, which is the party's constitution."