Ulsan Nam-gu Gap Lawmakers Hold Press Conference
"Political Donations Gathered in Trust as People Power Party Members"
"Defection to Democratic Party Is Clear Deception, Will Hold Him Accountable to the End"
Sangwook Kim is greeting after receiving a Democratic Party election staff badge following his departure from the People Power Party at the Central Election Countermeasures Committee held at the Democratic Party Yeouido headquarters in Seoul on the 19th. Photo by Yonhap News
Lawmakers from the People Power Party representing the Nam-gu Gap district of Ulsan, which is the constituency of lawmaker Kim Sangwook?who left the People Power Party and joined the Democratic Party after supporting the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol?have demanded that Kim resign his parliamentary seat and return political donations.
On the 21st, Lee Junghoon, a member of the Ulsan Nam-gu Council, held a press conference at the Ulsan City Council press center and urged, "Opportunist lawmaker Kim should immediately resign from his seat and return the donations." The press conference was attended by Lee Janggeol, a member of the Ulsan City Council, as well as Lee Jihyun and Lee Soyoung, Nam-gu Council members, all of whom represent the Nam-gu Gap district as People Power Party metropolitan and local councilors.
Lee Junghoon stated, "Lawmaker Kim's statements to the media regarding his departure and admission to the new party are filled with factual distortions, insults to local residents, and excuses to evade responsibility," and added, "It is a clear deception to defect to the Democratic Party while holding political donations collected under the trust of being a People Power Party member. Together with the donors, we will launch a campaign to demand the return of these donations and hold him accountable to the end."
Meanwhile, on the previous day, Kim Sangwook stated in a declaration, "It is truly unacceptable as a representative of the citizens of Nam-gu, Ulsan, to side with anti-state, anti-democratic, and anti-constitutional forces of insurrection. For this reason, I have left the People Power Party."
Also, appearing on SBS's 'Ju Youngjin's News Direct' the previous day, he said, "Watching all the recent campaign activities, I was surprised to find that my thoughts were exactly the same, and I came to truly respect him. Stripping away the preconceptions, I realized he is truly a decent person."
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