"Future Over Past... Democratic Party's Seoul Mayoral Election Strategy: Not Focusing Solely on Real Estate"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] The Democratic Party of Korea has named its preparatory organization for the Seoul mayoral by-election next April as the 'The K Seoul Election Planning Group.' Spokespersons are lawmakers Go Min-jung and Kang Seon-woo. They intend to conduct a future-oriented election, which appears to express their determination not to be bound by the shadow of the late former Mayor Park Won-soon. Additionally, by presenting livelihood, regional development, and real estate as three equally important issues, they revealed a strategy to prevent the election from being dominated by the 'real estate election' narrative.

Kim Min-seok, head of the Democratic Party's Seoul mayoral election planning group, stated at a briefing at the National Assembly on the 24th, "It is a concept that can most comprehensively and realistically embody Seoul's vision," adding, "It reflects Seoul's status and direction as a representative city of South Korea, whose prestige has already been greatly elevated beyond K-pop to K-quarantine, and as a world-class city aspiring to advance further, as well as the will to continuously implement policies and momentum to achieve that."

He continued, "We will strive to define and realize a future-oriented election that transcends the past." Besides the two spokespersons, Bae Ji-young, a research fellow at the Democratic Research Institute, will serve as a deputy spokesperson primarily communicating policies.

Kim emphasized, "We will conduct a thoroughly vision- and policy-centered positive election." This is also interpreted as an intention to distance themselves from the responsibility for causing the by-election. Kim said, "We will restrain negative elements as much as possible to maintain dignity and meet the expectations of Seoul citizens," adding, "We will fundamentally review very practical and tangible policies such as education and waste management, and furthermore, prepare well for customized plans for balanced development in each region of Seoul. We will also carefully examine what needs to be supplemented regarding real estate issues."

After the briefing, Kim told reporters, "Various policy-related opinion polls show that people are equally interested in three areas," and said, "While paying appropriate attention and focus to the currently prominent real estate issue, we will adopt a comprehensive approach that does not overlook closely related daily life issues."

Regarding the female bonus points, he was reserved, saying, "Discussions about the primary election rules will mainly take place within the central party's election planning group." On questions about the public participation primary system, he said, "The party has developed to the point where the number of dues-paying party members is close to one million," adding, "Reflecting the opinions of all party members statistically does not differ significantly from the general public or citizens' opinions, so we are open to that."

Kim also said, "There is no separate recruitment process at the level of The K Seoul Election Planning Group, and as far as I know, the party is not proceeding with any specific individual in mind," but added, "Isn't the possibility always open that a candidate other than those previously discussed may emerge?"

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