4.7 By-election 'Watch Your Words', 'Watch Your Hands' Advisory Issued... 'One Mistake Can Lead to Trouble'

As Large-Scale Rallies Become Difficult, Influence of SNS on Elections Grows, Increasing Impact of Statements
Challenges Such as Violations of COVID-19 Quarantine Measures Also Need to Be Addressed

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] As the primary election schedules for the April 7 by-elections officially begin, a cautionary alert for candidates to be careful with their words and actions has been issued. At a time when large-scale crowd rallies are impossible due to COVID-19, slips of the tongue or violations of quarantine measures can cause irreparable damage.

According to political circles on the 8th, as both ruling and opposition parties have officially entered the primary races for the Seoul and Busan mayoral elections, negative exchanges have unfolded. Oh Shin-hwan, a former lawmaker who challenged for the People Power Party’s Seoul mayoral candidacy, posted a message comparing his competitor, former lawmaker Na Kyung-won, to Heo Kyung-young, leader of the National Revolutionary Party, saying “Is it Na Kyung-won or Na Kyung-young?” He criticized Na’s policy on land-lease housing subsidies, which promised up to 117 million won in subsidies, as “populism.” In response, Na Kyung-won retorted, “He attacks without properly reading,” and urged, “Let’s not recklessly lower the dignity of the election.”

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon expressed regret on social media regarding a document related to North Korean nuclear power plant support, mentioning that the letter ‘v’ appearing in the document’s filename referred to the president as an abbreviation for ‘VIP.’ The established interpretation is that the ‘v’ stands for ‘version.’ Woo Sang-ho, a lawmaker challenging for the Democratic Party’s Seoul mayoral candidacy, sarcastically remarked, “We often see loss of reason during elections, but this phenomenon of loss of intellect is unprecedented.”

Woo also came under public scrutiny for a ‘handshake mistake.’ On the 4th, during a policy announcement event, he caused controversy by making an ‘X-shaped handshake’ while taking commemorative photos with other lawmakers and district mayors. After being criticized for violating COVID-19 quarantine guidelines, Woo apologized, saying, “I was careless.”

Earlier in January, Lee Eon-ju, a candidate for the People Power Party’s Busan mayoral race, also suffered damage due to quarantine guideline violations. Regarding some visitors to a campaign event testing positive for COVID-19, Lee’s camp stated to the quarantine authorities that they only greeted for about three minutes at the event. However, videos revealed that Lee remained at the venue throughout the event. Lee’s camp was fined 1.5 million won by Busan Jin-gu for violating quarantine guidelines.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

If any quarantine loopholes are found during the election campaign, candidates are likely to become targets of counterattacks. Moreover, COVID-19 infections among candidates or campaign staff can also become negative factors. Especially if quarantine guidelines are violated, public backlash can be severe. Candidates face the dual challenge of meeting as many voters as possible while strictly adhering to quarantine measures.

Meanwhile, Kim Jong-in, the emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, commented on the rising intensity of criticism among candidates, saying, “I think it is right for them to compete while considering how their words will affect the party.”

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