Democratic Party Holds Primaries in Gangbuk-gu Eul, Eunpyeong-gu Eul, Seongnam Jungwon-gu, etc... Park Hong-geun, Kim Young-bae, and Others Nominated Unopposed (Update)

The Democratic Party's Nomination Management Committee announced on the 23rd the primary election districts for 8 constituencies including Gangbuk-gu Eul and Eunpyeong-gu Eul in Seoul, as well as 12 uncontested constituencies. As a significant number of non-pro-Moon Jae-in faction lawmakers are set to compete in primaries, controversy over 'discrimination' has arisen.

Im Hyuk-baek, chairman of the Democratic Party's Nomination Management Committee, announced the results of the 6th round of nominations at the party headquarters that day. The committee uncontestedly nominated Representative Park Hong-geun in Jungnang-gu Eul, Representative Kim Young-bae in Seongbuk-gu Gap, Representative Cheon Jun-ho in Gangbuk-gu Gap, Representative Park Joo-min in Eunpyeong-gu Gap, Representative Kang Seon-woo in Gangseo-gu Gap, Representative Han Jeong-ae in Gangseo-gu Byeong, Representative Yoon Gun-young in Guro-gu Eul, Representative Kim Min-seok in Yeongdeungpo-gu Eul, Representative Jeong Tae-ho in Gwanak-gu Eul, and Representative Jin Sun-mi in Gangdong-gu Gap, respectively. Additionally, Professor Kim Sang-woo of Andong University was announced as the uncontested candidate for Andong-si and Yecheon-gun in North Gyeongsang Province.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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The 8 primary election districts were also announced. In Gwangjin-gu Gap, Seoul, former anchor Lee Jeong-heon and Representative Jeon Hye-sook will compete, while in Gangbuk-gu Eul, Representative Park Yong-jin, Democratic Party Strategic Planning Deputy Chair Lee Seung-hoon, and former Representative Jeong Bong-ju will contest the primary. In Gyeonggi Province, in Suwon City, Strategic Planning Deputy Chair Kim Jun-hyeok and Representative Park Kwang-on will face off; in Seongnam City Jungwon-gu, Representatives Yoon Young-chan and Lee Su-jin will compete; and in Namyangju-si Eul, Representatives Kim Byung-joo and Kim Han-jung will go head-to-head. In Chungbuk Cheongju City Sangdang-gu, Representative Noh Young-min and former local committee chair Lee Kang-il will compete, and in Jeonbuk Gunsan City, Representatives Kim Ui-gyeom and Shin Young-dae will contest the primary.

During the Q&A session, there was criticism that the non-pro-Moon faction had many primaries while the pro-Moon faction had many uncontested nominations in this nomination review. Chairman Im responded, "That interpretation is exactly the opposite," adding, "Some committee members pointed out a lack of unity, so this nomination focused on that. A representative example is the decision to hold a primary for former Chief Noh." He explained, "It was a deliberate effort to allow the non-pro-Moon faction to receive more nominations," and "The reason there are many uncontested nominations for the pro-Moon faction is because they either ran unopposed or had a large gap with the runner-up."

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