Daejeon City Council Chair Election Reset... Candidate Kim Seon-gwang Fails to Secure Majority in Second Round

Reenactment of 1st Vote Results: 11 Votes for Ethics Committee Sanction, 11 Invalid Votes

Daejeon City Council plenary session / Daejeon City Council

The second round of voting for the second half chairman election of the Daejeon City Council also failed to secure a majority for candidate Kim Seon-gwang (People Power Party, Jung-gu 2).

On the morning of the 3rd, the Daejeon City Council held the 280th extraordinary session plenary meeting and conducted the second round of voting for candidate Kim, but just like the first round, it resulted in 11 votes in favor and 11 invalid votes, failing to achieve a majority.

Accordingly, the election for the second half chairman of the 9th Daejeon City Council has reached a situation where a new election date must be set and the candidate registration process restarted.

Previously, on the 26th of last month, the Daejeon City Council held the first plenary meeting of the 279th extraordinary session and voted on candidate Kim, who had registered as a chairman candidate, but it was rejected with 11 votes in favor and 11 invalid votes, failing to secure a majority.

The People Power Party, which holds 20 out of the total 22 seats, held a party meeting on the 24th of last month and designated City Councilor Kim Seon-gwang as the candidate for the 9th second half chairman. They also signed a pledge stating that any candidate registration outside the chairman group would result in disciplinary action. However, the voting results showed that 9 People Power Party councilors cast dissenting votes.

On the 2nd, the People Power Party Daejeon branch held an ethics committee meeting and imposed a two-month suspension of party membership on City Councilor Jo Won-hwi, who registered as a chairman candidate against the party line and then withdrew.

Additionally, City Councilor Kim Seon-gwang, who after the rejection in the first round of voting on the 26th of last month, allegedly induced others to unjustifiably abstain from the second round, received a warning. Councilors Song In-seok, Lee Sang-rae, Jeong Myeong-guk, Min Gyeong-bae, Lee Jae-gyeong, Lee Geum-seon, Song Hwal-seop, and Ahn Gyeong-ja had their disciplinary actions deferred until the resolution of the second half chairman election on the 3rd.