Preliminary Candidate Ju Yunsik Resigns from Democratic Party... Runs as Independent

Some City and Provincial Councilors Criticized for Having No Thoughts or Convictions.
Assemblyman Sobyeongcheol Refuses to Meet Even When Asked Just Once.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] On April 10, Joo Yoon-sik, a preliminary candidate for Suncheon City District 1 (Songgwang, Oeseo, Nagan, Byeollyang, Sangsah-myeon, and Dosa, Pungdeok, Jeojeon, Jangcheon, Namje-dong), held a press conference announcing his departure from the Democratic Party of Korea and his independent candidacy for the upcoming April 7 by-election.

Candidate Joo declared his independent candidacy after being disqualified by the Democratic Party of Korea Jeonnam Provincial Party’s Public Office Candidate Recommendation Management Committee.

In his press statement, Candidate Joo said, “There were no regional development pledges, only negative campaigns slandering opposing candidates,” and added, “Some media outlets, as if waiting for this, led the election into a competition of fake news without fact-checking.”

He also criticized, “Some city and provincial councilors without any thoughts or convictions blindly followed along, showing no regard for the citizens.”

This remark revealed Candidate Joo’s discomfort regarding the actions and statements of some Democratic Party city and provincial councilors.

Meanwhile, Candidate Joo stated, “The expectation that Suncheon’s politics would change with a new member of the National Assembly was shattered in vain,” and said, “As a citizen, I asked Assemblyman So Byung-chul, the Democratic Party regional chairman, to meet me just once, but I could not meet him.”

He claimed that although he had an appointment with Assemblyman So Byung-chul’s office the previous day and visited the National Assembly in Yeouido, he could not meet him because Assemblyman So was not present.

Some interpret this as Assemblyman So Byung-chul, who had formed a fact-finding committee after receiving multiple allegations of bribery, deliberately avoiding a meeting with Candidate Joo.

Regarding the Democratic Party primary process, Candidate Joo described it as “a rigged election orchestrated by many people on the opposing candidate’s side to cause my defeat,” and claimed, “I found out that the false text message manipulation incident, which was intended to label me as a violator and cause my defeat, was proven by police investigation to be a fake and false petition.”

Candidate Joo, who said, “I know very well how difficult and lonely the path is to leave the Democratic Party and run as an independent,” added, “I will win this election and return to my hometown Democratic Party.”

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