'Gap speculation' allegations lead to Lee Young-sun's nomination cancellation... Democratic Party "Losing one seat for party trust"

"Lee Young-sun Concealed Facts During Nomination Application Process"

Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated regarding the cancellation of the nomination of Lee Young-sun, the Sejong Gap candidate embroiled in real estate gap speculation allegations, "It was judged necessary to show the party's firm stance against real estate speculation."

On the 25th, Hong appeared on BBS's 'Jeon Young-shin's Morning Journal' and pointed out, "Candidate Lee Young-sun concealed and deceived the facts during the nomination application process," adding, "This is a serious obstruction of business and has caused considerable political damage to our party." He continued, "After the party confirmed this matter, there was great concern that one person could negatively affect the nationwide election," and explained, "So even if we lose one seat, it was necessary to boldly cut this out for trust."

Hong Ik-pyo, Floor Leader. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

With the Democratic Party canceling the nomination, Sejong Gap will see a two-way contest between Ryu Je-hwa of the People Power Party and Kim Jong-min of the New Future Party. In this situation, there is also speculation about Kim's 'possible beneficiary victory.' Since this region saw a landslide victory of 56% by then Democratic Party candidate Hong Sung-guk in the 21st general election, it is analyzed that Kim, a Democratic Party-affiliated candidate, may have an advantage.

Regarding this, Floor Leader Hong said, "In any case, we cannot say that (the Democratic Party) supports candidate Kim Jong-min," but added, "Still, choosing a candidate other than the People Power Party might be considered the best choice."

Regarding Han Min-su, the Democratic Party spokesperson, who was strategically nominated as a candidate for Seoul Gangbuk but became controversial for not registering his move by the voter registration cutoff date of the 19th and thus lacking voting rights in Gangbuk, he bowed his head and said, "The party leadership should have examined the nomination process more thoroughly, but since that was not done, we feel very sorry to the voters of Gangbuk."

However, he explained, "In the case of candidate Han Min-su, he was urgently deployed at the party's request, so the responsibility is not that great," and added, "Since he did not originally prepare for Gangbuk, it was naturally impossible for him to move his address to Gangbuk." Regarding Han's column criticizing 'hasty nominations' during his time as a reporter, he said, "In this case, it was not that he actively sought a parachute nomination, but it was done at the party's request," and added, "I think the process might be somewhat different."

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