The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) leader Lee Jae-myung retained a ticket as the party’s single candidate to his constituency for the upcoming April 10 elections, the party announced Saturday. The DPK’s nomination committee made the announcement as it unveiled decisions on candidates for seven other constituencies, with about a month left before the general election expected to serve as a political litmus test for the Yoon Suk Yeol government. The announcement also came as the DPK is embroiled in a deepening factional rift within the party between members who are close to Lee, and the so-called non-mainstream lawmakers that are not.
A number of the non-Lee faction DPK members have left the party, claiming what they describe as a “massacre” of legislators if they are not aligned with Lee .Lee will contend with Rep. Won Hee-ryong of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), who recently served as the country’s land minister, for the seat in a constituency in Incheon, west of Seoul. Rep. Cho Jung-sik, a five-term DPK lawmaker and the party’s secretary general, also kept the ticket to his current constituency in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province. Of the eight constituencies, four will each hold a 토토 party primary to select the final candidate.