The ruling Democratic Party of Korea announced on Thursday that Song Young-gil, the party's former chair, will run for the parliamentary by-election in Yeonsu-A constituency in Incheon.
Additionally, the party said it had selected Kim Nam-joon as the candidate for the Gyeyang-B electoral district in Incheon.
Song has served five terms as a lawmaker in Gyeyang-B district and also served as the Incheon mayor from 2010 to 2014. He quit his lawmaker post in April 2022 to run in the Seoul mayoral election in June 2022, which he lost to Oh Se-hoon of the People Power Party.
That year, Lee Jae Myung made his debut in parliament after winning the by-election in Gyeyang-B constituency in June 2022. In August that year, Lee won the chairmanship of the then-major opposition Democratic Party, and three years later, won the presidential election and left his post in Gyeyang-B constituency.
Kim was Lee's close aide who quit the presidential spokesperson post in February in a bid to run for by-election.
The party chose Kim over Song, citing Kim's "deep understanding" of the incumbent president's philosophy.
Song, in the meantime, will be running for the other vacant Incheon constituency, currently held by Democratic Party lawmaker Rep. Park Chan-dae. Park is set to run for the Incheon mayoral election in June.
The party selected Song for the Yeonsu-A by-election, calling him a political heavyweight fit for the high-stakes election that the party must win, said Rep. Kang Jun-hyeon, the party's senior spokesperson.
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