What Is the Background of Dongdaemun District Mayor Yudeok-yeol's Foresight in Predicting Gominjeong's Victory in Gwangjin-eul?

Published 18 Apr.2020 10:47(KST)

Dongdaemun District Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol met with reporters in early December last year and advised, "To compete against heavyweight politicians like former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, a fresh image and newcomer must be presented to win"... Ultimately, he gained attention by accurately predicting the nomination and election of Gomin-jeong, a former Blue House spokesperson, in the 21st general election.

Yoo Deok-yeol, Mayor of Dongdaemun District

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The historic 21st general election has concluded.

Through fierce competition between the ruling and opposition parties, the candidates who will lead the political arena on behalf of the people for the next four years have been decided.

In particular, this election saw the emergence of nationally spotlighted figures after intense battles in Seoul and the metropolitan area, including Lee Nak-yeon in Jongno, Go Min-jeong in Gwangjin-eul, and Lee Su-jin in Dongjak-eul.

All of these candidates faced heavyweight opponents.

Among them, Go Min-jeong, the elected representative of Gwangjin-eul in Seoul, attracted attention by defeating former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon by about 2,700 votes.

Go Min-jeong was a late decision as the candidate for Gwangjin-eul, having only settled in the district shortly before candidate registration.

In contrast, Oh Se-hoon had been actively campaigning in the area for over a year.

Oh’s wife is a professor at Sejong University, and having lived in the area for a long time, he had long considered running in this district and had been canvassing the area for some time.

Especially, Choo Mi-ae, the five-term National Assembly member from this district and former Minister of Justice, had been a strong presence here, and Oh had been competing with her at events even before she became minister.

This shows how desperate Oh’s campaign was. After suffering a heavy defeat to Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun in Jongno during the 20th general election, Oh saw this as his last chance to rise as a future presidential candidate.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun defeated Oh Se-hoon in the 20th general election, securing his sixth term and laying the groundwork to become the Speaker of the National Assembly in the first half of the 20th National Assembly.

Given the difficult situation with such a heavyweight like former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon running, the Democratic Party of Korea must have faced considerable challenges in selecting their candidate.

The Democratic Party could not have been without significant deliberation over which candidate to field against Oh Se-hoon.

In this context, it is noteworthy that Yoo Deok-yeol, Mayor of Dongdaemun District, said in an interview with a reporter in early December last year, “To defeat a heavyweight like former Mayor Oh Se-hoon, we need to field a fresh newcomer,” which ultimately proved to be accurate.

Mayor Yoo especially believed that since Oh Se-hoon had served as a National Assembly member in Gangnam, Seoul, and suffered a crushing defeat to Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun in Jongno, highlighting a so-called ‘political migratory bird image,’ it was a wise election strategy to present a newcomer with a fresh image.

Mayor Yoo is a political veteran who was tortured by the Security Command during the Bu-Ma Uprising while participating in the democratization movement at Dong-A University in Busan, and still suffers from knee injuries.

After starting his political career in the National Democratic Alliance, he served as the organizational director of the Peace Democratic Party and became the first four-term elected mayor of Dongdaemun District, serving from the 2nd to the 7th local government terms at a young age.

Yoo Deok-yeol’s foresight ultimately proved correct in this general election.

In the Gwangjin-eul general election, which looked like a battle between Goliath and David, the newcomer Go Min-jeong, who previously served as the Blue House spokesperson, achieved the remarkable feat of defeating Oh Se-hoon.