Democratic Party "Seoul Mayor, Does Not Exclude Song Young-gil and Park Ju-min... Additional Recruitment by Tomorrow Followed by Primary Election" (Comprehensive)

"Additional Candidate Recruitment Until the 22nd"
"Including Former Representative Song Young-gil and Representative Park Ju-min, 100% National Primary Election to Be Held"

[Asia Economy Reporters Oh Ju-yeon and Park Jun-i] The Democratic Party of Korea has decided to hold a 100% public primary election to select its candidate for the Seoul mayoral race in the June 1 local elections, after recruiting additional prospective candidates by the 22nd, including former party leader Song Young-gil and lawmaker Park Joo-min.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 21st, the Democratic Party's Emergency Response Committee held a closed meeting at the National Assembly in the afternoon and announced that it had canceled the exclusion (cutoff) of former leader Song Young-gil from the Seoul mayoral nomination.

Senior spokesperson Ko Yong-jin told reporters after the meeting, "The Seoul mayoral candidate will be selected through a 100% public primary," adding, "A runoff vote will be held, and there will be at least one TV debate."

He further explained, "Without excluding former leader Song Young-gil and lawmaker Park Joo-min, we will recruit additional candidates by the 22nd, include an appropriate number of them in the primary, and select the candidate accordingly."

Senior spokesperson Ko said, "Considering the realistic circumstances, we agreed that broadening the pool of candidates would be more competitive," adding, "Currently, there are six applicants for the Seoul mayoral race, and there may or may not be additional candidates by tomorrow, but we will conduct a 100% public opinion poll primary with a suitable number of candidates for the runoff vote."

Regarding additional candidates, he said, "We will attempt final contacts by tomorrow to see how far the candidate pool can be expanded, then conduct a cutoff to an appropriate number suitable for the primary," adding, "There has been no discussion yet on whether the cutoff will be done by the Emergency Response Committee or the Strategic Nomination Management Committee."

Meanwhile, demands for the candidacies of former leader Lee Nak-yeon and former minister Park Young-sun continue to emerge. In response to reporters' questions about whether they will also be contacted, senior spokesperson Ko said, "We will reach out to various potential candidates," and "For those who have not yet been contacted, we will make additional efforts to do so."

The previous day, the Democratic Party's Emergency Response Committee held a closed meeting from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. to discuss the Seoul mayoral nomination based on the Strategic Nomination Management Committee's decision to cut off Song Young-gil and Park Joo-min, but failed to reach a conclusion, leading to an additional meeting that day. The internal party differences over the cutoff decision for the two candidates were significant, preventing consensus.

Co-chairperson Park Ji-hyun criticized the decision at the morning meeting the previous day, calling it "a decision that ignores party members, Seoul citizens, and the public." Former lawmaker Son Hye-won, during the Emergency Response Committee meeting, posted on Facebook that Emergency Response Committee Chairperson Yoon Ho-jung intended to exclude former leader Song from the nomination while only retracting the cutoff of lawmaker Park, calling it a "petty and crude conclusion."

Meanwhile, former leader Song Young-gil welcomed the Emergency Response Committee's decision on the Seoul mayoral race '100% public primary' and the cancellation of his exclusion. Through Facebook that afternoon, Song wrote, "The party's Emergency Response Committee has decided to select the Seoul mayoral candidate through a 100% public primary," adding, "Through the primary, we will create a one-team Democratic Party and surely win the Seoul mayoral election. I will deeply cherish the hearts of all those who have supported me so far."

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