Yoo Seong-min, a former four-term lawmaker, said Sunday he would not run in the April general election but rather protect his party, deflecting speculation that he would leave the party.

Yoo, a former lawmaker who is considered a key critic of President Yoon Suk Yeol in the People Power Party, announced in a Facebook post that he will not apply for the election nomination and would continue to wait as he has done.

"Twenty-four years ago, I joined the Grand National Party (the predecessor to the People's Power) when it first became an opposition party, and although there were many difficult times, I dedicated my youth to this party, always wanted this party to take the right path, and have a deep affection for this party more than anybody from the beginning and until now," he said.

He also wrote that the People Power Party was not a private party that belongs to certain people, but emphasized that true owners of the party are the citizens of a democratic republic who want politics to serve the public good, vowing to devote the rest of his life to making sure that its politics served the betterment of the world.

Yoo, a four-term lawmaker, served as the main conservative party's secretary general and parliamentary leader under former President Park Geun-hye.

He left the party during the Park Geun-hye impeachment and led the founding of his own, the Bareun Party. He lost the election as the Bareun Party's presidential candidate in the 19th presidential election. In 2020, his party merged with the main conservative party to form the PPP.