The People Power Party (PPP) has finalized single-candidate nominations in seven of the 10 electoral districts for which it accepted applications ahead of the upcoming June 3 parliamentary by-elections. Busan Buk-A, which has emerged as a battleground district, will hold a two-way primary, while the party has provisionally suspended the review for Gongju·Buyeo·Cheongyang in South Chungcheong Province.
Park Duk-hyum, chairman of the PPP's Nomination Management Committee, held a briefing at the party's central headquarters in Yeouido on Wednesday to announce the committee's decisions. The committee moved swiftly, completing both document screening and interviews within a day of receiving applications.
The district drawing the most attention is Busan Buk-A, where former party leader Han Dong-hoon is pressing ahead with an independent run. There, former Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Park Min-sik and former KBS reporter Lee Young-poong will compete in a two-way primary for the final spot on the general election ballot.
By contrast, the party deferred its nomination decision for Gongju·Buyeo·Cheongyang in South Chungcheong Province, where as many as seven preliminary candidates applied, including former National Assembly Vice Speaker Chung Jin-suk, who served as former President Yoon Suk-yeol's final chief of staff.
The seven candidates who secured single nominations and direct tickets to the general election have also been confirmed. For Dalseong County in Daegu, which became vacant after former lawmaker Choo Kyung-ho's bid for Daegu mayor, former Korea Communications Commission Chairwoman Lee Jin-sook was selected. Lee recently accepted the committee's cutoff decision and reversed course, opting not to run for Daegu mayor.
In Ulsan Nam-A, considered a conservative stronghold, current local party chapter head Kim Tae-kyu, a former KCC vice chairman, received the single nomination. In Hanam-A in Gyeonggi Province, where six contenders competed, Lee Yong, the local chapter head and a former proportional representation lawmaker aligned with the pro-Yoon faction, secured the nomination. In Yeonsu-A in Incheon, Park Jong-jin, head of the Incheon Seo-B chapter, who had applied privately, won the ticket.
In districts considered "unfavorable terrain" for the party, the PPP placed locally rooted figures at the front line. In Gyeyang-B in Incheon, the former constituency of President Lee Jae-myung, Shim Wang-sup, chairman of the Environment and Landscape Architecture Development Foundation, will seek to reclaim the seat. In Gwangsan-B in Gwangju, former Gwangju chapter head Ahn Tae-wook, and in Seogwipo City on Jeju Island, Jeju provincial chapter head Ko Gi-cheol, each made the single-nomination list.
Some districts will go through a re-application process. The PPP's Nomination Management Committee said it will reopen applications for the parliamentary seat of Gunsan·Gimje·Buan in North Jeolla Province, as well as the mayoral races in Siheung City in Gyeonggi Province and Jeonju City in North Jeolla Province, after failing to find suitable candidates.
