[Politics, That Day...] The Incident at Jangchung Gymnasium That Rewrote the 'Election Playbook'

The 2011 Seoul Mayoral Primary Called the Guidebook for Primary Excitement...Supporting Roles Shining as Much as Leads, Completing the Election Drama

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min]

Editor's Note‘Politics, That Day...’ is a series planning corner that looks back on Korean politics through the ‘recollection of memories’ related to scenes, events, and figures that deserve attention.

If we were to pick one successful case of “throwing eggs at a rock” in Korean political history, we cannot miss ‘that incident’ that took place on October 3, 2011, at Jangchung Gymnasium in Seoul. It was an event where an outsider to the political circle, armed with powerful organizational strength, defeated the first opposition party’s Seoul mayoral candidate and emerged as the unified candidate.

The interesting point is that both the winner and the loser of the primary ended up politically ‘profitable.’ It was one of the most remarkable primaries in history, but in fact, there was no loser in the contest. How was that possible?

The October 26, 2011 Seoul mayoral by-election was a showdown between the Grand National Party and an independent candidate. The reason the Democratic Party did not field a candidate was that their candidate lost to the independent candidate in the opposition unified primary. On October 3, 2011, Park Won-soon, called the citizen candidate, Park Young-sun from the Democratic Party, and Choi Gyu-yeop from the Democratic Labor Party gathered at Jangchung Gymnasium.

It was a meeting to decide the unified candidate to face Grand National Party’s Na Kyung-won. The significance of the primary at that time was special because the Democratic Party, progressive parties, and civil society united to put forward one candidate and actually concluded it as a ‘beautiful primary.’

The primary was conducted by combining a general public opinion poll (30%), jury evaluation after TV debates (30%), and a national participation primary (40%). This was quite different from the basic political grammar of unification, where a specific candidate withdraws by political decision to unify the candidacy.

The decisive turning point that changed the tide was when Ahn Cheol-soo, then dean of Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, supported Park Won-soon and stepped back. Park Won-soon gained momentum, but it was still uncertain whether he could defeat the first opposition party’s candidate in the actual election. Park Young-sun had solid experience in legislation and a well-prepared process for the Seoul mayoral race. The Democratic Party also put effort into winning the unified primary.

On the 15th, the 21st National Assembly election was held, and officials are conducting vote counting at the counting center set up in the Multipurpose Badminton Gymnasium in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

However, the final primary results ended with Park Won-soon at 52.15%, Park Young-sun at 45.57%, and Choi Gyu-yeop at 2.28%. Park Won-soon overcame the first opposition party’s organizational power, and Park Young-sun’s strong showing promised future prospects.

Although they competed for the Seoul mayor position, the fact that they played fair until the end of the primary was also a scene different from other primaries. Intra-party primaries in Korean politics often use all means to win, but three heterogeneous forces competing for one candidate spot with almost no discord was remarkable.

Right after the primary, they even established a joint election campaign organization. The Democratic Party, Democratic Labor Party, People’s Participation Party, and Park Won-soon as the citizen candidate agreed not only on a joint policy agreement on the day of the primary but also on joint governance of Seoul city administration and the formation of a joint campaign committee.

It is not easy to reach such an agreement in an election where there are clear winners and losers. Winners generally want to monopolize power and authority, and it is not an easy choice for losers to become supporters. The Democratic Party had to make Park Won-soon shine from a supporting role.

Park Won-soon was not a Democratic Party candidate. Some within the Democratic Party argued that the independent Park Won-soon should join the party and run under the Democratic Party banner to win the election, but this did not come to pass. On October 26, 2011, Park Won-soon ran as an independent against Grand National Party’s Na Kyung-won.

Park Won-soon won the Seoul mayoral seat by securing 53.40% of the vote, defeating Na Kyung-won who received 46.21%. Since that day, the party that maintained the conservative lineage (now the People Power Party) has not regained the Seoul mayor position.

The reason to pay attention to the October 3, 2011 Jangchung Gymnasium incident is that it can serve as a formula for election victory for both the Democratic Party and the People Power Party. In the upcoming April by-election for Seoul mayor, the Democratic Party is expected to face a different electoral landscape than before.

The Justice Party under leader Kim Jong-cheol is not considering candidate unification with the Democratic Party. It is likely that the Justice Party’s Seoul mayoral candidate will run to the end. The Democratic Party faces the challenge of attracting support outside the party through policies, even though it will be difficult to unite forces as they did in the 2011 Jangchung Gymnasium incident.

The opposition parties need to pay attention to the lessons of the 2011 Jangchung Gymnasium unified primary. To overcome the ruling party’s organizational power and reclaim the Seoul mayor position, forces critical of the Democratic Party must unite and present a single front.

The 2011 Jangchung Gymnasium primary rewrote the ‘textbook of elections.’ It was a contest worthy of being called a model of a beautiful primary, but the problem is that it is not easy to replicate.

Will the People Power Party, depending on the circumstances, choose to accept an outsider as the unified Seoul mayor candidate? Can that person demonstrate competitiveness to defeat the ruling party and reclaim the Seoul mayor position? Can the election momentum be concentrated without discord during the election process?

If they can achieve that, the Seoul mayoral by-election in April next year is expected to be a contest of a completely different dimension.

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