Parties ramp up candidate picks

[Anchor]

Each political party is ramping up preparations to select their presidential candidates.

The Democratic Party of Korea has launched an election committee to oversee the internal primary, while the People Power Party has decided to finalize its presidential candidate at the party convention on the 3rd of next month.

This is Lee Ye-rin reporting.

[Report]

With the official announcement of former leader Lee Jae-myung's candidacy, the Democratic Party has shifted to a presidential primary phase.

They have established an election committee to oversee the internal primary for selecting the presidential candidate.

After holding their first meeting tomorrow, they plan to discuss the primary schedule and rules with the candidates' teams.

The party leader who intends to run for president must resign one year before the election, and a special committee has also been formed to amend this rule.

[Lee Chun-seok/Chairman of the Democratic Party's Committee on Speical Rules for the Presidential Election: "Within 55 days, how will we finalize the (presidential) candidate? We are looking for ways to simplify this process."]

The complete national primary, which the Rebuilding Korea Party has requested a position on by tomorrow (Apr. 10), is not expected to be considered.

This is due to the short election period and its lack of effectiveness.

The People Power Party has decided to select its presidential candidate at the party convention on the 3rd of next month.

With nearly 20 participants expected in the primary, they are considering a plan to narrow down the candidates through two cut-off rounds to four and then two.

The schedule and method for the preliminary primary will be finalized by the party's emergency committee tomorrow.

[Hwang Woo-yeo/Chairman of the People Power Party's Election Committee: "We will select a candidate who can unite the aspirations of both the party and the public..."]

National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, who had proposed simultaneous voting for the presidential election and constitutional amendment, has retracted his position after three days.

The Democratic Party and others believe that stabilizing the internal situation is a priority, and they stated that the nomination of a constitutional judges by Acting President Han Duck-soo has diminished the momentum for constitutional discussions among the parties.

This is KBS News, Lee Ye-rin.