Translation result.
Former Korea Communications Commission Chair Lee Jin-sook said on April 3 that she will seek Daegu voters’ choice through a citizens’ primary after the People Power Party’s nomination committee denied her request to reconsider her exclusion from the party’s Daegu mayoral slate. Political observers interpreted her remarks as signaling a likely independent bid.
In a Facebook post that afternoon, Lee asked, “Is the leader of the People Power Party Jang Dong-hyuk—or Presiding Judge Kwon Seong-su of the Southern District Court?”
Judge Kwon has overseen a series of injunctions involving the People Power Party. He granted an injunction filed by North Chungcheong Governor Kim Young-hwan on March 31, but on April 2 and 3 he dismissed injunctions brought by former Pohang Mayor Park Seung-ho and former lawmaker Kim Byung-wook (both excluded from the Pohang mayoral primary), as well as by Rep. Joo Ho-young (excluded from the Daegu mayoral primary).
Last month, Judge Kwon also granted injunctions filed by former Supreme Council member Kim Jong-hyuk, aligned with the pro‑Chinhan (Donghun) faction, and by Seoul party chief Bae Hyun-jin, who had challenged disciplinary actions from the party’s ethics committee.
Lee criticized Party Chair Jang for remarks at a supreme council meeting on April 2 in which he accused the presiding judge of the Southern District Court of intervening in politics “as if he were the People Power Party leader.” She said that by accepting the judiciary’s rulings on Rep. Joo’s injunction while otherwise attacking the courts, Jang has effectively made Kwon Seong-su the de facto leader of the People Power Party.
Observers viewed her critique as directed at Nomination Committee Chair Park Deok-heum, who convened a meeting immediately after the court dismissed the injunction and cited the ruling to justify maintaining Rep. Joo’s exclusion and rejecting Lee’s reconsideration request.
Park explained the rejection by saying the situation mirrored Rep. Joo’s case—the content of Lee’s reconsideration petition was almost identical, he said.
Lee called the committee’s announcement “a self‑sabotaging decision that will lead to defeat in the June 3 local elections.”
She added, “A party leader who ignores both party opinion and public sentiment is not a legitimate leader. I, Lee Jin‑sook, will follow the will of Daegu residents and seek their choice through a citizens’ primary.” Political insiders read that statement as an effective declaration that she intends to run as an independent.
Lee also said she would devote herself to revitalizing Daegu and to serving the nation.
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