Kim Jaewon Disobeys People Power Party's No-Nomination Principle... Runs as Independent in Daegu Jung and Nam Districts After Leaving Party

People Power Party Nomination Committee Decides No Candidacy for Daegu Jung and Nam Districts

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Kim Jae-won, Supreme Council Member of the People Power Party, has expressed his intention to ‘resign from the party’ in order to run in the Daegu Jung-Nam-gu by-election. This move follows the People Power Party’s Nomination Management Committee’s decision not to nominate a candidate for Daegu Jung-Nam-gu due to the responsibility of former lawmaker Kwak Sang-do.

On the 28th, Kim, the Supreme Council Member, welcomed the party’s difficult decision not to nominate a candidate for the Daegu Jung-Nam-gu parliamentary by-election, stating, "I welcome the party’s difficult decision," and added, "I will unconditionally obey the party’s order to run as an independent candidate without the party’s support and return after winning."

He said, "I will run as an independent candidate, win, and return to the party," and "I will endure all the difficulties that come with running as an independent." To run as an independent, he must give up his membership in the People Power Party.

Although Kim explained that he would follow the party’s will, in fact, he is resigning from the party in defiance of the party’s no-nomination policy. Earlier, Kim had registered as a preliminary candidate for the Daegu Jung-Nam-gu electoral district and expressed his intention to run.

However, with the People Power Party’s announcement of a no-nomination stance for this area on the same day, he decided to resign from the party. Kwon Young-se, Chairman of the People Power Party’s Nomination Management Committee, held a press conference at the party headquarters on the same day, announcing that no candidate would be nominated for the Daegu Jung-Nam-gu district.

The Daegu Jung-Nam-gu district was the constituency of former lawmaker Kwak Sang-do. Kwak resigned from the National Assembly after it was revealed that his son was implicated in preferential treatment in the Daejang-dong development project and that Kwak received 5 billion KRW as severance pay after working at Hwacheon Daeyu. Recently, the prosecution re-requested a pre-arrest warrant for Kwak on charges including violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (bribery), violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (mediation bribery), and violation of the Political Funds Act.

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