People Power Party Aiming to Recapture Seoul... 19 Candidates Including Na Kyung-won, Bae Hyun-jin, Yoo Jong-pil, and Tae Yong-ho Confirmed Without Contest

People Power Party Conceded 41 of 49 Seoul Districts in Last General Election
Ha Tae-kyung, Lee Hye-hoon, Lee Young Refuse Reassignment

The People Power Party, aiming to reclaim Seoul, is considering reallocating candidates, focusing on constituencies with a high number of nomination applications. In the 21st general election, the conservative camp lost 41 out of 49 constituencies in Seoul, leading to ongoing calls for candidate reallocation to retake the so-called 'Hangang Belt' area. However, since the preliminary candidates in these constituencies have shown no willingness to accept reallocation, attention is focused on whether there will be any aftereffects if single nominations are made without separate primaries.

Jang Dong-hyeok, Secretary General and Nomination Committee Member of the People Power Party, is delivering a greeting at the first Nomination Committee meeting held on the afternoon of the 16th at the party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

On the morning of the 14th, the People Power Party's Nomination Management Committee announced the results of single nominations for the Seoul, Honam, and Jeju regions following interviews held the previous day. There are a total of 25 single nomination candidates, including 19 in Seoul: Kwon Young-se (Yongsan), Kim Byung-min (Gwangjin Gap), Oh Shin-hwan (Gwangjin Eul), Kim Kyung-jin (Dongdaemun Eul), Jeon Sang-beom (Gangbuk Gap), Kim Jae-seop (Dobong Gap), Kim Seon-dong (Dobong Eul), Lee Yong-ho (Seodaemun Gap), Koo Sang-chan (Gangseo Gap), Kim Il-ho (Gangseo Byeong), Ho Jun-seok (Guro Gap), Tae Young-ho (Guro Eul), Jang Jin-young (Dongjak Gap), Na Kyung-won (Dongjak Eul), Yoo Jong-pil (Gwanak Gap), Cho Eun-hee (Seocho Gap), Park Jung-hoon (Songpa Gap), Bae Hyun-jin (Songpa Eul), and Lee Jae-young (Gangdong Eul). In Gwangju, five candidates?Kang Hyun-gu (Dong-gu Nam-gu Gap), Park Eun-sik (Dong-gu Nam-gu Eul), Ha Heon-sik (Seo-gu Gap), Kim Jeong-hyun (Gwangsan-gu Gap), and Ahn Tae-wook (Gwangsan-gu Eul)?received single nominations, and in Jeju, Kim Seung-wook (Jeju Eul) was nominated singly.

Single nominations can be granted when there is only one applicant or when one among multiple applicants has overwhelmingly superior competitiveness. In the People Power Party, candidates who applied alone for Seoul constituencies include Kim Seon-dong, Kim Jae-seop, Na Kyung-won, Moon Tae-sung, Oh Shin-hwan, and Yoo Jong-pil. Park Dae-su, who applied for Gangseo Eul, became a single nomination candidate after his competitor, former Liberty Korea Party floor leader Kim Sung-tae, was disqualified, but Moon Tae-sung, the party’s Eunpyeong-eul district committee chairman, was excluded along with him. Jang Dong-hyuk, the party’s secretary-general, told reporters that morning, "We can make single recommendations, but considering various situations, we might proceed to primaries. For constituencies without single nominations, we are considering other options."

However, it is uncertain whether candidates in constituencies with many nomination applications will accept the party’s reallocation requests. The Seoul Jung-Seongdong Eul constituency, where three candidates?Representative Ha Tae-kyung, former Representative Lee Hye-hoon, and former Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee Young?have applied, is at the center of conflict. After the nomination interviews, Representative Ha said, "I will dedicate the rest of my political life to Jung-Seongdong Eul," former Representative Lee stated, "I have no intention of moving constituencies," and former Minister Lee said, "Going to campaign is what I have to do today," effectively indicating opposition to reallocation. On his way to work that day, Jeong Young-hwan, chairman of the People Power Party’s Nomination Management Committee, told reporters, "(Opposition to reallocation) is a freedom, isn’t it?" and added, "If they want, there should be a primary."

The party intends to continue the nomination process through coordination with candidates. Secretary-General Jang said, "We will not conduct nominations that mechanically sacrifice senior members," adding, "If they accept after a reasonable explanation based on data so far, we can proceed with reallocation, but if not, we have no intention of forcing reallocation."

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