SEOUL, Political parties have begun nominating candidates for the April 10 general elections, with the process expected to intensify in heated competition among heavyweights in key constituencies.
On Wednesday, the ruling People Power Party (PPP) nominated 25 candidates to run in constituencies in Seoul, the southern city of Gwangju and the southern resort island of Jeju, without undergoing primaries with other contenders.
The party’s nomination committee announced that two sitting lawmakers — Reps. Cho Eun-hee and Bae Hyun-jin — will receive the two party tickets in the so-called Gangnam belt, an area that has historically been a stronghold of the conservative party.
Additionally, Rep. Kwon Young-se, a four-term lawmaker, and Na Kyung-won, a former four-term lawmaker, each secured tickets to run in their respective districts of Yongsan and Dongjak.
However, Wednesday’s selection did not include any figures from the presidential office, reflecting the PPP’s earlier promise that nominations would be sol
ely based on its system to scrutinize each applicant.
Seok Dong-hyeon, a former senior prosecutor considered a close friend of President Yoon Suk Yeol, also failed to win the ticket for Seoul’s Songpa Ward. Instead, the committee nominated Park Jung-hoon, a former TV anchor, for the district.
Later in the day, the committee conducted interviews with applicants seeking nomination in several constituencies in Gyeonggi Province surrounding Seoul, most of which are considered traditional strongholds of the liberal opposition.
Among the figures vying for party tickets are former Industry Minister Bang Moon-kyu and Lee Soo-jung, a criminal psychology professor, in two districts in Suwon, just outside of Seoul. In the previous parliamentary elections in 2020, the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) secured all five seats in Suwon.
Meanwhile, the DP has postponed its plan to announce a list of incumbent lawmakers to be excluded from party nominations. The party had previously said that the lower 20 percent of i
ncumbent lawmakers who had been screened out will be “cut off” from nominations.
Observers attribute the delayed announcement to the DP’s fear that excluded sitting lawmakers could potentially join the New Reform Party, a recently launched party formed by four political parties and factions led by politicians who have left the PPP and the DP.
The new party is led by former DP leader Lee Nak-yon and former PPP leader Lee Jun-seok.
The two leaders are contemplating their candidacies, with Lee Nak-yon most likely to run in the southern city of Gwangju and Lee Jun-seok considering Daegu, a stronghold of the conservative bloc, or Seoul.
“In the case of Lee Jun-seok, while Daegu holds symbolic significance, running in Seoul to stir up momentum is deemed more meaningful from an election strategy perspective,” said a party official, speaking on condition of customary anonymity.
Source: Yonhap News Agency
