Min Byung-doo Declares Independent Candidacy on Same Day as '4 Years Ago Lee Hae-chan'... "Will Follow Voters' Judgment"

Min Byung-doo, Chairman of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, is delivering a congratulatory speech at the seminar on the future direction of the financial group supervision system held at the Bankers' Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 29th. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Wondara] Min Byeong-du, a three-term member of the Democratic Party of Korea who was 'excluded from nomination (cutoff),' has decided to run as an independent candidate.

On the morning of the 15th, Min stated on his Facebook, "I will create a two-way contest with the United Future Party candidate and win."

Regarding his decision to run as an independent, Min explained, "If I do not run, it means giving up one seat (for the Democratic Party), but if I run, it means maintaining one seat, which gave me courage."

He pointed out, "The Democratic Party designated Dongdaemun as a youth-priority strategic district. While I agree with the Democratic Party's intention to nurture young politicians, sending a youth with no ties to the area 30 days before the election is harsh even for the youth."

He also said, "Even if I help the youth with a spirit of putting the party before oneself, the conditions are too difficult to expect a miracle."

Min emphasized, "Being first place is the ultimate goal," adding, "If it seems unlikely that I will be first, I will support the Democratic Party's youth candidate to win," and "The power to raise me up or bring me down lies with the voters. I will follow their judgment."

As his general election pledges, Min stressed, "I will fulfill the wishes of Dongdaemun residents, including GTX, relocation of Cheongnyangni Station maintenance depot and youth startup town, undergrounding of Dongbu arterial road, simultaneous attraction of Seoul representative library and schools, Gangbuk transverse line and Myeonmok line, and expansion of the resident safety network."

The Democratic Party excluded Min from nomination on the 5th due to a 'Me Too controversy' and designated Seoul Dongdaemun as a youth-priority strategic electoral district. In this area, Jang Gyeong-tae, chairman of the Democratic Party Youth Committee, and Kim Hyun-ji, deputy head of the Democratic Party Election Countermeasures Committee's COVID-19 response team, are preparing for the primary. From the United Future Party, Lee Hye-hoon, an incumbent from Seocho-gu Gap who was also cut off, is running and preparing for the election.

Meanwhile, the 15th, when Min decided to run as an independent, is the same date when Democratic Party leader Lee Hae-chan declared his independent candidacy after being cut off in the 2016 general election.

On the 8th, Min posted on Facebook, "I feel the same way," along with the statement Lee released at that time. In his statement on March 15, 2016, Lee criticized, "There is no reason or basis for exclusion from nomination," and "The Kim Jong-in emergency committee tries to gloss over it as a political judgment. Politics is not done that way." After releasing this statement, Lee ran as an independent in Sejong, was elected, and then returned to the party.

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