The Supreme Council of the Democratic Party of Korea determined that a candidate surnamed Park, who was competing in the Gwangyang mayoral primary in South Jeolla Province, had "serious defects" in his qualifications. The council recommended strong measures including disqualification to the South Jeolla provincial party, prompting its election management committee to change the primary from a three-way to a two-way race.
On the night of May 5, the South Jeolla provincial party's election management committee announced that, following the central party's Supreme Council recommendation, the Gwangyang mayoral primary would proceed as a two-candidate race between Kim Tae-gyun and Jeong In-hwa, excluding candidate Park.
Earlier, MBC reported that the South Jeolla provincial election management committee had filed a complaint with prosecutors against an unnamed candidate in the Gwangyang area and 15 campaign workers for allegedly conducting illegal telephone canvassing by paying campaign workers through an unregistered campaign office.
The Democratic Party's Supreme Council, after emergency deliberations, concluded that "serious problems had arisen regarding candidate Park's qualifications" and officially recommended that the South Jeolla provincial party's election management committee take immediate and strong measures including disqualification from the primary.
However, Park's side has claimed that "a distant relative did this on a personal basis and he was not involved," suggesting a significant possibility that he will challenge the decision. The process of selecting the Democratic Party's Gwangyang mayoral candidate is therefore expected to face considerable turmoil for the time being.