Professor Im Miri, Formerly Affiliated with 'Hannara Party', Runs for Local Election

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] It was confirmed on the 14th that Professor Im Miri of Korea University, who was prosecuted by the prosecution after writing a critical column against the Democratic Party of Korea, had previously run for local elections as a member of the Grand National Party, the predecessor of the Liberty Korea Party.

According to the Central Election Commission's election statistics system, Professor Im ran for Seoul City Council as a member of the Grand National Party in the 2nd simultaneous local elections in 1998. The constituency was Seongdong 4th electoral district in Seoul's Seongdong area.

At that time, Professor Im lost to Hong Seung-chae, the candidate from the National Congress for New Politics.

On the 29th of last month, Professor Im published a column titled "Everyone Except the Democratic Party" in Kyunghyang Shinmun and was prosecuted by the Democratic Party for violating the Public Official Election Act. In the column, Professor Im criticized, "Although the National Assembly is in session, crowds representing the ruling and opposition parties are clashing on the streets," and added, "While the Liberty Korea Party is not without responsibility, the greater responsibility lies with the Democratic Party of Korea."

He continued, "Let's inform political parties and politicians that the people are not hostages, and that voters can also betray. Let's create parties that consider the people's opinions even after elections. Therefore, I propose: 'Vote for everyone except the Democratic Party.'"

Following criticism both inside and outside the party regarding the prosecution, the Democratic Party withdrew the charges against Professor Im. However, while withdrawing the charges, the Democratic Party expressed suspicion about Professor Im's political intentions, stating that "Professor Im was an executive member of ‘Naeil,’ the think tank of former People's Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo."

It is currently known that the Democratic Party is verifying Professor Im's "current party affiliation."

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