The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung retained the ticket as the party's single candidate to his constituency for the upcoming April 10 elections, the party announced Saturday.
The DP's nomination committee made the announcement as it unveiled the decisions on the candidate nominations for seven other constituencies, with about a month left before the parliamentary votes expected to serve as a political litmus test for the Yoon Suk Yeol government.
The announcement also came as the DP is embroiled in a deepening factional rift within the party between the members who are closer to Lee, and the so-called non-mainstream lawmakers that are not.
A number of the non-Lee faction DP members have left the party, claiming what they describe as a "massacre" of legislators if they are not aligned with Lee.
Lee will contend with Rep. Won Hee-ryong of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), who recently served as the country's land minister, for the seat in a constituency in Incheon, west of Seoul.
Rep. Cho Jung-sik, a five-term DP lawmaker and the party's secretary general, also kept the ticket to the same constituency in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province.
Of the eight constituencies, four will each hold a party primary to select the final candidate. (Yonhap)
