Former Korea Communications Commission Chairperson Lee Jin-sook said she will not run in the June 3 Daegu mayoral election. After National Assembly Vice Speaker Joo Ho-young, who was cut off (excluded from nomination) in the Daegu mayoral primary, Lee also declared she will not run as an independent, signaling that the Daegu mayoral race will shift into a head-to-head contest between the People Power Party candidate to be decided on the 26th and Democratic Party of Korea candidate Kim Boo-kyum.
Lee held a press conference on the morning of the 25th at the People Power Party Daegu City Chapter auditorium and said she would step down from her position as a preliminary candidate for Daegu mayor. It has been 73 days since she threw her hat into the ring for the Daegu mayoral election on Feb. 12.
Lee expressed regret over the People Power Party Nomination Management Committee's cut-off decision. She said, on March 22 the committee announced the cut-off without an acceptable explanation. Despite having no disqualifying reasons such as corruption or abuse of power, she was excluded for the vague reason that she "needed to be used for something bigger," and for 35 days she requested the restoration of the unjust cut-off but it was not accepted. This kind of unfair case must never be repeated.
Initially, Lee was said to have considered running as an independent. She said she was confident she could win as a citizens' candidate and wanted to prove the power of citizens, but one concern held her back, adding that she felt a greater responsibility to prevent a situation in which even Daegu falls to the left, the red heart of conservatism turns blue, and the Republic of Korea is gripped by populism.
Lee then aimed at the Lee Jae-myung administration, saying it is pushing bills that cannot exist under a liberal democratic system, such as a crime of legal distortion and increasing the number of Supreme Court justices. If the People Power Party candidate is chosen tomorrow (the 26th), Lee said she will lend support so that person can defeat the Democratic Party candidate and will protect Daegu from a lawless administration.
Meanwhile, the People Power Party plans to put forward as its Daegu mayoral candidate whichever of Representative Choo Kyung-ho or Representative Yoo Young-ha wins the final. The person who becomes the final candidate between the two is expected to engage in a close race with the ruling party against Democratic Party of Korea candidate Kim Boo-kyum for the Daegu mayoralty.