Yang Hyang-ja: "Sorry for Seoul and Busan nominations... I will be chosen, forgiven, and return pride"

"Criticism Will Be Taken by the Leadership... Party Members Were Forced to Choose"

Yang Hyang-ja, Supreme Council Member of the Democratic Party of Korea. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] Yang Hyang-ja, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 2nd expressed, regarding the party's decision to nominate candidates for the Seoul and Busan by-elections through a party-wide vote, "Before being a ruling party leader, as a woman, I have been going through an extremely heavy time, and I also want to apologize to the people."

At the Democratic Party Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly that day, Yang said, "I have nothing to say except that I am sorry. It is entirely our responsibility."

She added, "I also offer my apologies to the party members. We forced you to make a difficult choice. I sincerely thank you for gathering wisdom in such a challenging situation," and said, "Please direct all criticism only at our leadership. We will accept the criticism about whether we abandoned principles or whether we are qualified to nominate candidates."

She appealed, "If there is any fault of the party members, it is only that they were forced to make a cruel choice."

Furthermore, she said, "Following the clearly stated party constitution might be a responsibility, and giving up on nominations might be the right politics. But I do not think that all responsibility is exempted by that," adding, "I questioned whether depriving the choice of 13 million voters out of fear of criticism is truly responsible politics. We will become a party that faces responsibility head-on, not one that avoids it."

In addition, she said, "Regardless of ruling or opposition parties, winning back the hearts of the people is much more difficult and painful. I will not shy away from that painful and arduous task," and "I will directly ask the citizens whether the Democratic Party is qualified. We will be chosen, forgiven, and return as a source of pride."

Earlier, Choi In-ho, the chief spokesperson of the Democratic Party, announced at a National Assembly briefing that from the 31st of last month to the 1st of this month, a "party-wide vote on candidate nominations for next year's by-elections through party constitution amendment" was conducted. A total of 211,804 people (26.45%) participated in the vote, with 86.64% in favor and 13.36% opposed. Accordingly, the Democratic Party will proceed with nominating candidates for the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections in April of the following year.

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