Democratic Party Again Delays Jeong Bong-ju Eligibility Decision... "Nothing to Announce Today"

"Today, the Public Office Committee Interview Begins... No Official Briefing"
The Public Office Committee Held a Full Meeting but Could Not Reach a Conclusion

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] The Democratic Party of Korea once again postponed the decision on the eligibility of former lawmaker Jeong Bong-ju as a preliminary candidate for the April 15 general election on the 9th.

A Democratic Party official said to reporters in front of the Yeouido party headquarters on the day, "There will be no official briefing on former lawmaker Jeong today. There is nothing to say."

The Democratic Party's Nomination Management Committee held a full meeting at the party headquarters from 8:30 a.m. that day to discuss the eligibility of former lawmaker Jeong, who was tried for defamation related to sexual harassment allegations, but ultimately failed to reach a conclusion. The Nomination Committee also held a candidate verification subcommittee and full meeting on the 6th to discuss the issue but could not narrow the differences in opinion, postponing the final decision to this day.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Discussions regarding former lawmaker Jeong were suspended for the general election candidate nomination interviews. The Nomination Committee immediately began the five-day general election candidate nomination interviews from 10 a.m. on the same day until the 13th.

When asked by reporters, "When will the meeting regarding former lawmaker Jeong be held again?" a party official explained, "The meeting is temporarily paused due to the interviews," adding, "The official statement we can give is that there is nothing to brief. There is nothing to inform today."

Former lawmaker Jeong declared his retirement from politics after allegations of sexual harassment against a journalist trainee were reported by a media outlet during his 2018 Seoul mayoral election campaign. He was later acquitted in the first trial of the defamation lawsuit related to the report and was reinstated to the Democratic Party. He has declared his candidacy for the 21st general election and has applied for nomination in Seoul Gangseo-gap, the constituency of Democratic Party lawmaker Geum Tae-seop.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.