What About Im Tae-hoon... Conflict Over Proportional Nomination in the Democratic Party of Korea

Citizen Assembly Recommends Im Tae-hoon Again Despite Public Official Committee Cutoff
Citizen Assembly "No Disqualification Reason for Im Tae-hoon Either"
Democratic Union "Discussion Scheduled at 10 AM Meeting on the 15th"

The Democratic Party-led pan-opposition proportional representation coalition party, the Deobureo Minju Yeonhap, is experiencing growing conflict over the nomination issue of former Military Human Rights Center director Im Tae-hoon. The Deobureo Minju Yeonhap's nomination committee excluded former director Im from the nomination due to 'military service evasion,' and the Coalition Political Citizens' Council (Citizens' Council), which recommended him, firmly stated on the morning of the 15th that it would not recommend anyone other than former director Im.

The Citizens' Council held two standing committee meetings at 6 PM and 10 PM the previous day. The standing committee, delegated by the full panel of judges, announced that it had unanimously decided to re-nominate former candidate Im Tae-hoon, confirming that it had no intention of recommending any candidate other than Im Tae-hoon.

Democratic Party of Korea Co-Representative Yoon Young-deok (second from left) is conducting an interview screening for proportional representation candidates at the Yeouido party headquarters on the 14th.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Around 7 PM the previous day, the Deobureo Minju Yeonhap completed interviews for 29 proportional representation candidates, excluding one vacant seat. Immediately after the interviews, through a briefing, they stated, "We have requested the civil society to re-nominate one candidate from the civil society recommended candidates who was deemed ineligible in the document screening by 10 AM on the 15th." The Citizens' Council responded to this request from Deobureo Minju Yeonhap by re-nominating the same individual, former director Im.

The Citizens' Council views former director Im's failure to fulfill military service obligations not as 'military service evasion' but as 'conscientious objection.' The Citizens' Council stated, "The decision of ineligibility against candidate Im is unjust considering international human rights standards and UN recommendations, the Constitutional Court's judgment on alternative service, the policies on conscientious objection adopted by the three parties constituting Deobureo Minju Yeonhap, and his contributions to improving military human rights. We strongly urge Deobureo Minju Yeonhap to withdraw the ineligibility decision against candidate Im."

A Deobureo Minju Yeonhap official said, "It is not impossible to re-nominate candidate Im," adding, "We will likely discuss whether to accept the nomination at the Supreme Council meeting at 10 AM today."

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