The liberals in Korean politics are splitting into various splinter groups as they fail to patch up conflicts surrounding main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Lee Jae-myung’s powerful grip on recommending candidates for the April 10 general elections.Dozens of DPK members are also leaving the party to join those splinter groups despite their uncertain future, expressing their grievances with Lee’s “coercive leadership.” With scenarios becoming ever more complicated for the liberal bloc, some analysts even anticipate that it may be difficult for the DPK to secure more than 100 out of 300 National Assembly seats. During an interview with broadcaster MBC on Friday, DPK floor leader Rep. Hong Ihk-pyo denounced the party’s decision to exclude Rep. Hong Young-pyo from the candidate nomination in his constituency, Incheon’s Bupyeong-B.
“I absolutely don’t understand what kind of political decision it was,” the floor leader said. “Rep. Hong told me that he will not leave the DPK as long as he can compete in a primary, and I delivered his intention to the candidate recommendation committee, but he ended up being sidelined from the primary.”Hong Young-pyo is a four-term lawmaker categorized into a faction of loyalists to former President Moon Jae-in. He has been critical of the DPK’s candidate nomination process, claiming that it is aimed at sidelining those who are not loyal to the party chairman. He has been assisting a protest staged by former presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok, who was also sidelined from candidacy.After the exclusion, Rep. Hong dropped hints at that he would leave the party, saying “I will purse my purpose with those who have thoughts on new politics.”Hong’s remarks are interpreted as showing his intention to form a group of pro-Moon DPK defectors, tentatively called “the Democratic Coalition.” It will be a gathering of serving lawmakers who left the DPK in protest of the party’s candidate nominations, and its members will run as independent 토토사이트 candidates in the elections.