Democratic Party Gwangju Nomination Screening Results Announcement Causes Stir

Announcement of '2-Person Primary' for Gwangju Dongnam-eul and Gwangsan-eul on the 15th

Top Preliminary Candidates in Various Polls Face Consecutive Cutoffs

The announcement of the primary screening results by the Democratic Party of Korea's Central Party Public Office Election Candidate Recommendation Management Committee has caused a stir in the Gwangju region.

Some areas have experienced delays in the announcement, and in the constituencies announced on this day, candidates with high approval ratings were cut off (excluded from nomination), raising various suspicions such as 'favoring pro-Myeong factions.'

On the 15th, the Democratic Party's Public Office Election Candidate Recommendation Management Committee announced the results of the third screening. In Gwangju, the Dong-gu Nam-gu (Eul) and Gwangsan-gu (Eul) constituencies were announced as two-person primaries.

In the Dong-gu Nam-gu Eul constituency, incumbent lawmaker Lee Byung-hoon and former Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance Ahn Do-gul will compete for the nomination. Kim Byung-woo, head of the Democratic Innovation Research Institute; former Dong-gu mayors Kim Seong-hwan and Noh Hee-yong; Kim Hae-kyung, invited professor at Nambu University; former National Assembly member Yang Hyung-il; and Lee Jeong-rak, vice chairman of the Democratic Party's Social Economy Committee, were cut off (excluded from nomination).

Former Dong-gu mayor Kim Seong-hwan had consistently led in various opinion polls but is known to have filed for a reconsideration after the cut-off decision.

In the Gwangsan-gu Eul constituency, the incumbent lawmaker Min Hyung-bae and former Blue House senior administrative officer Jeong Jae-hyeok were announced as the 1:1 primary candidates. Former Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy spokesperson Kim Seong-jin and former Blue House administrative officer Choi Chi-hyun were cut off. Since preliminary candidate Jeong Jae-hyeok, who ranked lowest in earlier opinion polls, was announced as a primary candidate, Kim Seong-jin and Choi Chi-hyun plan to hold a press conference to raise objections.

There are still constituencies where the nomination screening results have not been announced: Seo-gu (Gap) and (Eul), and Gwangsan-gu (Gap), totaling three areas.

In the Seo-gu Gap constituency, where incumbent lawmaker Song Gap-seok is running, Song and former Blue House senior administrative officer Kim Myeong-jin, former Democratic Party Supreme Council member Park Hye-ja, and Jo In-cheol, head of Gwangju Metropolitan City's Culture and Economy Department, are awaiting screening results.

Seo-gu Eul constituency was designated as a strategic constituency after lawmaker Yang Hyang-ja left the Democratic Party, but it has not yet been decided whether a primary will be held or a strategic nomination will be made. Kim Gwang-jin, head of Gwangju Metropolitan City's Culture and Economy Department; lawmaker Kim Gyeong-man (proportional representation); and Yang Bu-nam, co-chairman of the Democratic Party's Legal Committee, have registered as preliminary candidates.

In the Gwangsan-gu Gap constituency, incumbent lawmaker Lee Yong-bin and Park Gyun-taek, legal special advisor to the Democratic Party leader, have been in a tight 1:1 race from early on. Because of this, there is public opinion expressing incomprehension about the delay in announcing the results so far.

A local political source said, "The nomination screening results are coming out in ways that are not logically acceptable," adding, "For the Democratic Party to become one team and achieve better results than the People Power Party in this general election, nominations must be reasonable and not disconnected from public sentiment."

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