Participant Autonomy Jeonbuk Citizens' Coalition "Candidate Accused of Large-Scale Gambling Should Withdraw"

Call to Withdraw Candidate Guk Young-seok, Wanju County Mayor Candidate, Amid Large-Scale Gambling Allegations

[Jeonju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Han-ho] The Participatory Autonomy Jeonbuk Citizens' Solidarity (co-representatives Kim Nam-gyu, Park Kyung-gi, Yoon Chan-young, Lee Kang-joo, Lee Kyung-han) strongly demanded the withdrawal of the candidacy of Kook Young-seok, the prospective candidate for Wanju County Governor, who is suspected of large-scale gambling, through consecutive commentaries over two days.

On the 3rd, the Participatory Autonomy Jeonbuk Citizens' Solidarity released a statement titled "For a candidate suspected of large-scale gambling, withdrawal of candidacy is appropriate, not postponement of reconsideration," saying, "The Democratic Party decided to postpone the nomination withdrawal despite photos of candidate Kook Young-seok gambling with large sums of money being reported in the media," and criticized, "This failure to properly enforce even the nomination principles they set breaks the hopes of voters expecting reform in local politics."

They also emphasized that gambling crimes, drunk driving, and other acts that destroy not only the individual but also their family and society must be dealt with firmly.

Earlier, on the 2nd, the Participatory Autonomy Jeonbuk Citizens' Solidarity sharpened their criticism against the Democratic Party and candidate Kook through a statement titled "The Democratic Party must withdraw the nomination of candidate Kook Young-seok amid suspicions of large-scale gambling crimes."

In particular, the Participatory Autonomy Jeonbuk Citizens' Solidarity urged, "The Democratic Party should withdraw candidate Kook Young-seok's nomination according to the revealed evidence and nominate a candidate worthy of the expectations of local voters," and "The police must also conduct a thorough investigation into candidate Kook's large-scale gambling activities."

Meanwhile, candidate Kook Young-seok ranked first in the Jeonbuk 14 city and county heads primary conducted by the Democratic Party Jeonbuk Provincial Party, but reports were received by the party that he habitually engaged in high-stakes gambling during his time as the head of Gosan Nonghyup. On the 25th of last month, photos showing him gambling with stacks of 50,000 won and 10,000 won bills were released by the media.

In response, the Democratic Party Central Reconsideration Committee discussed this on the 2nd but decided to postpone the decision.

Jeonju=Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Han-ho stonepeak@asiae.co.kr

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