Key ruling party official offers to resign over by-election defeat

SEOUL, Oct. 14 (Yonhap) — A key official of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) has offered to resign over the party’s recent by-election defeat, which could spark a change in the party’s leadership ahead of the parliamentary elections in April.

This week, Jin Kyo-hoon of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) won 56.52 percent of the vote against his PPP rival Kim Tae-woo’s 39.37 percent in the by-election for the chief of Seoul’s Gangseo Ward, seen as a test of voter sentiment ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections.

PPP Secretary General Lee Chul-gyu said on social media that he has decided to step down from the post for the party’s stability and constructive leap forward.

PPP leaders have pledged to heed the voice of the people and come up with extraordinary measures to win back their trust after the crushing defeat in the by-election.

Source: Yonhap News Agency