Rival parties drop controversial candidates ahead of general election

Both of Korea's major political parties are scrambling to contain the potential fallout from their parliamentary candidates' controversial past records by canceling nominations ahead of the April 10 general election.

Former lawmaker Chung Bong-ju announces his bid to run in the Democratic Party's (DP) primaries at the National Assembly on Jan. 8. Chung's nomination was cancelled by the DP on Thursday. [YONHAP]

Both of Korea's major political parties are scrambling to contain the potential fallout from their parliamentary candidates' controversial past records by canceling nominations ahead of the April 10 general election.

On Thursday, the liberal Democratic Party (DP) announced it had canceled the nomination of former lawmaker Chung Bong-ju as the party’s candidate in Seoul’s Gangbuk-B constituency after determining he had not properly apologized for past comments that appeared to mock South Korean soldiers who lost their legs in a landmine explosion while patrolling the demilitarized zone in 2015.

The former lawmaker made the remarks during a panel appearance on a YouTube channel in 2017, where participants discussed ways the two Koreas could cooperate during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics hosted by South Korea the following year.

“We have great stuff in the DMZ, like mines,” Chung quipped at the time, adding that “everyone who steps on a mine should get a pair of crutches as a prize.”

Chung posted an apology on Facebook on Wednesday after the comments came to light, claiming he had called the victims to apologize.

But the soldiers told local media outlets that Chung never contacted them, leading the DP to cancel his nomination.

On Friday, one of the DP’s coalition partners urged the party to accept Lim Tae-hoon, a former director of the Center for Military Human Rights, as its candidate for the DP’s satellite party.

The DP’s satellite party canceled Lim’s nomination two days earlier amid growing controversy over his failure to complete mandatory military service, which he attributed to conscientious objection.

Military service is mandatory for all men in Korea aged between 19 and 35.

The country began running an alternative military service system in late 2020 for conscientious objectors who are opposed to serving in active duty roles based on their religious and personal beliefs, allowing young men to replace their 18-month mandatory military service with a three-year alternative service.

The coalition partner that had originally recommended Lim forwarded his candidacy to the DP’s satellite party again on Friday, saying it has “no other candidate to recommend” besides Lim.

The satellite party, which the DP formed in cooperation with minor liberal parties, is competing for seats awarded by closed-list proportional representation.

Two of its candidates have already withdrawn from the election due to scrutiny over their ties to pro-North organizations.

On Thursday, the conservative People Power Party (PPP) also canceled the nominations of two candidates who have been mired in separate controversies.

Jeong Young-hwan, chair of the People Power Party's nomination committee, announces the termination of Rep. Chung Woo-taik's candidacy at the party's headquarters in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Thursday. [YONHAP]

Rep. Chung Woo-taik, who currently serves as deputy speaker in the National Assembly, was replaced as the PPP’s candidate for Chungju’s Sangdang constituency by former presidential official Seo Soung-woo after a local news outlet released security camera footage of Chung receiving what appeared to be a white envelope of cash from an unidentified man and putting it inside his pocket at a cafe.

In a press release, the party’s nomination committee said it replaced Chung because “the scandalous circumstances surrounding him do not meet the people’s expectations and ethical standards.”

The committee said in a separate release that it had canceled the nomination of lawyer Doh Tae-woo, who was slated to run as the PPP’s candidate for the constituency representing Daegu’s Jung and Nam districts, after he continued to make comments deemed derogatory to the May 18 Gwangju Uprising and protesters who died as a result of the military’s brutal suppression of the pro-democracy protest.

“Despite having apologized on two occasions for his controversial comments on the May 18 Uprising, Doh continued to make inappropriate remarks,” the committee said in its explanation for withdrawing his candidacy.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]