Democrats Likely to Nominate Female Candidate for Seoul Mayor By-election... Party Charter Amendment Also Considered

[Asia Economy Reporter Won Dara] Female politicians are being mentioned as potential candidates for the next Seoul mayor from the Democratic Party of Korea. This is due to the need to convey differentiation and reform following the 'former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon incident.' However, the Democratic Party still faces the task of amending the party constitution to field a candidate for the next Seoul mayor.

On the 16th, a re-elected Democratic Party lawmaker said, "If we field a candidate for the Seoul mayoral by-election, a female candidate seems appropriate." Democratic Party lawmaker Kwon In-sook also responded "Yes" to the question in a CBS radio interview the previous day, "Is it possible to consider fielding female candidates for both Seoul and Busan mayoral positions as a compromise?" She added, "I hope more female candidates for metropolitan government heads can emerge," and said, "If women are more involved in decision-making processes and work alongside men, I believe these issues will occur much less."

So far, within the Democratic Party, Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun, Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae, and lawmakers Woo Sang-ho, Woo Won-shik, and Park Joo-min have been mentioned as potential Seoul mayor candidates. Among them, attention is focused on Minister Park. She has long prepared for the Seoul mayor position, having competed against former Mayor Park in the 2018 Seoul mayoral primary. At that time, Minister Park secured 19.59%, coming in second after former Mayor Park's 66.26%. Her experience as Minister of SMEs and Startups, where she developed policies for small and medium enterprises and small business owners amid the COVID-19 pandemic, is also considered an advantage in the economic field. Although Minister Choo served as party leader and was recognized for her leadership, she is currently responsible for prosecutorial reform as Minister of Justice, so her chances are viewed as less likely.

However, the Democratic Party still faces the challenge of amending the party constitution to field a Seoul mayor candidate. While the United Future Party and others say, "We should not field a candidate according to the party constitution," the Democratic Party continues to send messages such as, "Since the presidential election is approaching, we will amend the party constitution to field a candidate."

Democratic Party lawmaker Hong Ik-pyo appeared on KBS radio that morning and said, "I don't think it is impossible to field a candidate (for the by-election) according to the party constitution," adding, "I remember participating in making the party constitution and regulations in the past. The main issues were election fraud, bribery, and power-related corruption, and the core matter was that candidates would not run only when these were involved." The previous day, former lawmaker and Democratic Party leader candidate Kim Boo-kyum also stated on his Facebook, "Politics is reality," and said, "If the will of party members is to nominate a candidate, I will amend the party constitution if necessary."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.