Meeting of the Planning Team on the Seoul Mayor By-election: "A Difficult Situation Allowing No Room for Even Slight Negligence"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] The Democratic Party of Korea shared the perception that the situation surrounding the Seoul mayoral by-election scheduled for April next year is a “difficult situation that does not allow even a moment of complacency.”

Kim Min-seok, a member of the National Assembly and head of the Democratic Party’s ‘The K-Seoul Election Planning Team,’ announced the results of the 4th meeting at the National Assembly Communication Office on the morning of the 15th.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim said, “The overall election situation remains tight,” adding, “We are particularly mindful that people’s livelihoods are extremely difficult due to COVID-19 and other factors, and we are maintaining a policy of listening carefully to the citizens’ voices.”

He continued, “We plan to adjust the policy proposals of mayoral candidates so that party members and lawmakers suggest broad policy directions to the candidates as much as possible,” and stated, “We will respect and prioritize the candidates’ policy activities.”

Regarding Assemblyman Woo Sang-ho, who was the first to declare his candidacy for Seoul mayor, he said, “We expect a strong campaign and hope that other candidates will follow with their declarations.”

He added, “We are also preparing to shift the election preparation and progress to an online system in response to the COVID-19 situation.”

After the briefing, Kim told reporters, “In terms of policy, there was discussion about lowering the ratio of children per daycare teacher.”

He also said, “There was criticism of the People Power Party’s excessive criticism of public rental housing policies related to real estate issues,” and targeted the opposition party by saying, “Didn’t someone mentioned as a potential mayoral candidate suggest building 100,000 apartments in the National Assembly? It was a proposal made without composure.”

Kim emphasized, “The government and ruling party’s real estate policy has been moving in the direction of preventing speculation, and I believe it should proceed toward stabilization rather than further strengthening.”

The planning team will hold a non-face-to-face online video conference with Seoul Metropolitan Council members and city councilors on the 23rd, and plans to hold the Seoul event of the annual policy expo jointly promoted by the Democratic Party and its think tank, the Democratic Research Institute, in January next year.

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