Lee Kwang-jae, former governor of Gangwon Province from the Democratic Party, said on the 14th, "I have decided not to run for the party's presidential candidate primary."
The former governor noted through Facebook that he would devote everything for "winning the presidential election and ending the civil war." He was regarded as a close aide to former President Roh Moo-hyun and had been mentioned as a candidate from the party's non-Lee Jae-myung faction in this presidential election.
The former governor referenced former President Yoon Suk-yeol's declaration of martial law on December 3, the National Assembly's lifting of martial law, the subsequent passage of impeachment motions in the National Assembly, and the Constitutional Court's removal ruling, saying, "I thought it was over, but it is not over. The situation is becoming more serious."
He stated, "To decisively judge the forces of civil war with an overwhelming victory, we need to unite the energy of the people with a decisive victory of 70 to 30, rather than a bloody election with 51 to 49, to move beyond division and toward the future." He added, "I will do my best for the Democratic Party's victory in the presidential election with a centrist practical policy and vision" and further noted, "The Democratic Party will change with the people and move forward to repay them with a successful country."