Ex-pres. Candidate to Run in By-election as Independent

Former Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, the runner-up to Lee Myung-bak in the 2007 presidential election, left the main opposition Democratic Party yesterday to run as an independently in the April 29 by-election.

Chung failed to win the party’s nomination for an electoral district in his hometown.

He criticized in a news conference the party’s leadership for making a decision "against the will of its members."

"I`m taking off my Democratic Party uniform for a while but will join again soon," he said.

Chung’s defection is expected to intensify an internal feud in the party over nominations for the by-elections. The party has nominated Kim Keun-sik, a North Korea specialist at Kyungnam University, as its candidate for the Deokjin district of Jeonju.

Earlier in the day, party chairman Chung Sye-kyun said he will not run in the next parliamentary elections on his home turf, also in North Jeolla Province.

He said it is against the principal of a political party to allow Chung Dong-young to run for a parliamentary seat in his hometown, where his victory is virtually assured.

Chung Sye-kyun said he promises not to run in his hometown in the 2012 general elections in an expression of his “sincerity” in deciding not to nominate the former unification minister.

jin0619@donga.com mindy@donga.com