The satellite party of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) on Friday again disqualified a human rights activist as a candidate for next month's general elections, sticking to its earlier decision to exclude him for not serving the mandatory military service. It is the second time that Lim Tae-hoon, a former director of the Center for Military Human Rights Korea, a nongovernment group specializing in military issues, was denied nomination for a proportional candidate of the satellite party that the DP created with coalition partners, including one consisting of civil society representatives. "We had an in-depth discussion and took into account various dimensions with respect to candidate Lim," the satellite party said in a statement. "We decided on the disqualification since it was determined that there were no particular reasons to overturn the decision." The satellite party excluded Lim from the nomination earlier this week, citing his 2004 conviction for refusing military service as a conscientio us objector. The civil society bloc insisted it will recommend Lim again as a candidate. Following Friday's decision, all 10 standing members on the civil society side offered to resign en masse in protest. Lim has filed an objection against the decision, contending that the party equated conscientious objection with evading military service. Observers had largely predicted the reversal of the decision on Lim's nomination was unlikely as Lim has already been cut off once in the nomination decision process, in which the DP has a major say. The DP's satellite party, formed with some minor parties and left-wing groups to win the proportional seats, is becoming increasingly mired in an internal row over proportional candidate nominations. Two of its candidates have withdrawn their bid for candidacy amid criticism over their affiliation with civic groups with pro-North Korean and anti-U.S. tendencies. Source: Yonhap News Agency
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