Democratic Alliance for Korea rejects nomination of Lim Tae-hoon

Ha Won-oh (3rd from left), chairman of the General Federation of Korean Farmers\' Associations, holds a farmers\' press conference to condemn colorism and slander against the Democratic Party of Korea\'s national candidate, in front of the central party of the People\'s Power in Yeouido, Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday. Yonhap

Tensions are rising between the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and civil society over the nomination of the civil society’s candidates for the Democratic Alliance for Korea (DAK), a proportional satellite party of the DPK. Lim Tae-hoon, a former director of the Center for Military Human Rights Korea (MHRK), said on March 13 that he was notified by the DAK that he was ineligible as a result of the document review by the main opposition party. The previous day, two candidates of civil society voluntarily withdrew from the race due to opposition from the Democratic Party. There is a growing backlash as three of the four proportional candidates recommended by civil society were eliminated.

In particular, the rapid formation of the proportional coalition party has been criticized as a result of the fact that forces relatively friendly to the DPK’s leader Lee Jae-myung, such as those in the Progressive Party, the Basic Income Party, and civil society, have joined together to share the seats of the progressive camp.

"I received a cutoff notice from the party after reviewing my candidate registration documents," Lim said on social media, adding that the reason was that I was a draft dodger. "The fact that I refused military service based on my conscience was defined as draft dodging. So I filed an appeal.” He also said, "Korea is a country that opens up the option of alternative military service to those who refuse military service based on their conscience," adding, "We wait for a wise judgment worthy of the DPK’s 70-year history, which has been built up for the human rights of citizens in the spirit of former presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun."

An official from the main opposition party said in a phone interview, "The backlash from the religious community has been very strong.”

The DAK is expected to continue its verification process later in the day after receiving an explanation from Lim.

If the DAK’s nomination management committee finally makes a final decision to exclude him, civil society should re-recommend candidates. Civil society will announce two candidates on March 14 to replace Jeon Ji-ye, a member of the Financial Justice Alliance, and Jeong Young-yi, a former secretary general of the National Federation of Women Farmers' Associations, who voluntarily resigned due to the controversy over their history of anti-U.S. activities.

The civil society protested the decision. The national candidate recommendation committee sent a document to the DAK protesting the decision to disqualify Lim. The committee also issued a statement on the previous day and said, "We must actively respond to unjustified abuse and political offensives that seek to undermine the independence and legitimacy of the review process and results."

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.