Sim Sang-jung Announces Presidential Run: "Rebuilding Justice Party... Forces Silenced Since Impeachment Are Reviving"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] On the 12th, Sim Sang-jung, a member of the Justice Party, stated on Facebook, "If there is a role for me, Sim Sang-jung, in opening the future of our Justice Party in this presidential election, I intend to do my best as a candidate." She expressed her intention to run for president and is expected to make a public declaration after the National Committee meeting on the 22nd, which will decide the Justice Party's presidential candidate selection method.

She put forward the motto of 'Rebuilding' and 'New Leap' for the Justice Party. Sim said, "The status of the Justice Party as the third party is shaking," and added, "Let's definitely achieve a new leap for the Justice Party toward progressive governance."

Sim diagnosed that "Korean politics is regressing again," stating, "The hopes of the candlelight citizens who wanted to change their lives through the current government have turned into frustration and anger. Citizens' lives have become even more difficult, and anxiety about the future is growing uncontrollably."

She criticized, "Taking advantage of this gap, the forces that had been silent since the impeachment have revived. There are even forces that claim that poor citizens choosing to eat substandard food is freedom of choice and argue that raising the minimum wage is a crime." This was explained as the reason for her decision to run.

She also said, "The politics of transition to create a new social system cannot be solved by one president or one political force alone," and proposed, "Rather than expecting a superhuman president, let's build a country with strong citizenship."

This will be her fourth presidential challenge. In the 2007 17th presidential election, she competed in the primary within the Democratic Labor Party but lost to then-member Kwon Young-gil. In the 2012 18th presidential election, she ran as the sole candidate of the Progressive Justice Party but withdrew to support Moon Jae-in, then the Democratic Party candidate. In the 2017 19th presidential election, she ran as the Justice Party candidate, finishing 5th with 6.17% of the vote.

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