The 'Invisible Hand' Shaking the People Power Party's Gyeonggi Province Governor Primary Election

Former National Assembly Vice Speaker Candidate Shim Jae-cheol Withdraws; Official Organization Announces Support Declaration for Assemblyman Kim Hak-yong

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Ahead of the People Power Party's Gyeonggi Province governor primary, controversy is arising as there are criticisms within the party that certain candidates are being openly favored.

On the 12th, the People Power Party's Public Relations Office announced via email and other channels that former National Assembly Deputy Speaker Shim Jae-cheol is withdrawing from the Gyeonggi Province governor primary. In a statement, former Deputy Speaker Shim said, "Recently, seeing the local elections once again become a 'Presidential Election Season 2' with extreme factional battles causing turmoil, I realized that my determination alone to fully return Gyeonggi Province to the people is insufficient," adding, "I expect that the development dreams I had for Gyeonggi will be well carried out by preliminary candidate Kim Eun-hye, and I will work hard for the victory of the local elections and the sure-win of all our People Power Party candidates, including Kim Eun-hye."

Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

This news attracted attention not only for its content but also for its format. The news of former Deputy Speaker Shim's withdrawal and support for Representative Kim Eun-hye was announced through the People Power Party's official public relations organization. Until now, former Deputy Speaker Shim had shared news such as office opening events, press conferences criticizing competing candidates, and visits to metropolitan bus garages through individual email channels, making this approach notably different.

The People Power Party maintains that there is no problem with using the party's official public relations channel to announce former Deputy Speaker Shim's withdrawal. A party official explained, "For metropolitan area preliminary candidates, if a request is made, we deliver the news," emphasizing that there was no issue with the process. They denied that this was favoritism toward a specific candidate.

However, this controversy is not limited to this instance. A similar situation occurred when Representative Kim Hak-yong, a former member of the People Power Party's Central Party Nomination Committee, declared support for Representative Kim Eun-hye on the 7th. Kim Hak-yong stated, "For the success of the new government, we cannot back down in this Gyeonggi Province governor election," and declared, "Today, I resign from my position on the Central Party Nomination Committee and will serve as the election campaign committee chairman for Representative Kim Eun-hye to lead the governor election to victory." At that time, the support declaration for Representative Kim Eun-hye was also officially disseminated through the party and media communication channels, which was also unusual.

There are many puzzling aspects regarding former Deputy Speaker Shim's withdrawal. Just three days prior, on the 9th, he held an office opening event in Jangan-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi Province, actively preparing for the governor primary. This was done abruptly ahead of the People Power Party Nomination Committee's cutoff announcement. Since the cutoff usually selects three times the number of candidates, former Deputy Speaker Shim's participation in the primary was highly likely when he withdrew.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Former Deputy Speaker Shim had previously criticized the atmosphere favoring a specific candidate within the party. At a press conference on the 10th, he said, "The Central Party Nomination Committee, which should manage fair nominations nationwide, saw a member resign from the committee on the 6th, the candidate registration deadline, before preliminary candidate Kim Eun-hye even declared her candidacy, and that member took on the role of campaign committee chairman for Kim. Also, the nomination committee secretary of the Gyeonggi Party resigned before Kim's candidacy declaration and became her secretary-general," adding, "The camp movement of Central and Gyeonggi Party nomination committee members before Kim Eun-hye's candidacy declaration is a seriously abnormal and regressive act that undermines the authority of the public party's nomination committee and raises doubts about fairness. It is unprecedented and chaotic for a referee to suddenly jump into the ring to side with a player who has not even declared candidacy."

Concerns are also emerging within the People Power Party. A party official expressed, "Within the party, through district branch heads and the party secretariat organization, there is an internal atmosphere of favoring a specific candidate," adding, "Although there are voices of concern within the party, it is not being controlled," expressing worry.

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