Election Commission Member Kim Jaeseop Resigns... "Opposed Hong Junpyo's Reinstatement, There Should Be No Fairness Controversy"

Screenshot of Kim Jae-seop, former Emergency Response Committee member of the People Power Party's Facebook page

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Kim Jae-seop, a former emergency committee member appointed as a member of the People Power Party's presidential election management committee, voluntarily resigned from his position, citing his past opposition to the reinstatement of presidential candidate Hong Jun-pyo as the reason. This was to eliminate any possibility of disputes over fairness.

On the 27th, Kim stated on Facebook, "Last April, when I was an emergency committee member, I strongly criticized the words and actions of one of the current presidential candidates and publicly opposed their reinstatement," adding, "Since he is one of our party's leading figures, there could be questions about the fairness of Kim Jae-seop as an election management committee member."

Earlier, when demands for Hong's reinstatement arose within the party, Kim publicly criticized, saying, "After someone who has been away returns, the party's average 'kkondae-ryeok' (old-fashioned attitude) will increase by 10 percentage points." Subsequently, Hong's reinstatement was approved through the People Power Party's Supreme Council meeting in June.

He said, "If there is even a 0.1% chance that a personal preference of an election management committee member could influence the primary process, I believe it is right to step down," emphasizing, "Fairness comes first and foremost in the election management committee, and there should be no unnecessary controversies."

He added, "I hope that with my resignation, the baseless disputes over the fairness of our election management committee will disappear," and expressed confidence that "the newly launched election management committee will become a catalyst for regime change through fair and strict presidential election management."

Finally, he said, "I would like to express both my gratitude and my apologies to the People Power Party leadership and the chairman of the election management committee who appointed me as a committee member."

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