D-49 to April 7 Election, Opposition Candidates Engage in 'Promise War' with Many Proposals... "Questioning Feasibility"

Continuous Promises Flood In
Will Election Promises Cease?

Kim Jong-in, Emergency Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, and candidates for the Seoul mayoral primary attended the '1st Head-to-Head Debate for Changing Seoul' held at the Baekbeom Kim Koo Memorial Hall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the 16th, posing for photos before the event began. From left to right: Joo Ho-young, floor leader; Oh Shin-hwan, preliminary candidate; Oh Se-hoon, preliminary candidate; Kim Jong-in, Emergency Committee Chairman; Na Kyung-won, preliminary candidate; Cho Eun-hee, preliminary candidate; Jeong Jin-seok, Nomination Committee Chairman. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] With 49 days remaining until the Seoul mayoral by-election, opposition candidates are continuously unveiling pledges. Amid voices inside and outside the parties questioning the feasibility of these pledges, concerns are rising that they may remain mere "election promises."

On the morning of the 17th, Oh Se-hoon, a preliminary candidate from the People Power Party for the Seoul mayoral by-election, declared his intention to usher in an era of a 700 trillion won Seoul economy by completing the "Three Major Seoul Economic Axes." His plan includes providing various support measures such as finance, taxation, and monetary policies centered around key areas like Gangseo, Seocho, and Mapo.

The day before, Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, also presented measures to revitalize Seoul’s economy. His proposals included creating 10 convergence economic innovation districts such as Magok in Seoul. The plan aims to designate innovative hubs similar to Gyeonggi-do’s Pangyo and develop them with digital infrastructure.

Former lawmaker Na Kyung-won also proposed a "transportation blind spot resolution pledge." She intends to connect the currently under-construction Seoul light rail Nangok Line to Geumcheon-gu Office to address transportation blind spots in the southwest area. Furthermore, Na’s plan is to make all of Seoul accessible within a 10-minute walk to a subway station. Na has been conducting Facebook Live sessions every morning at 9:20 AM to announce her pledges.

On the same day, former lawmaker Oh Shin-hwan announced a "care pledge" to address the low birthrate issue. He plans to invest 750 billion won in direct budget over the next five years to increase Seoul’s public childcare utilization rate from the current 43.8% to 80%. To achieve this, Oh’s team stated they will expand Seoul-style public certified daycare centers, including national and public daycare centers, to 3,200 by 2025.

As pledge announcements continue ahead of the final candidate selection, political circles are rife with debates over the "feasibility" of these pledges. During the People Power Party’s Seoul mayoral candidate "1:1 head-to-head debate" held the previous day, accusations of each other’s pledges being "unrealistic" were raised multiple times. Former lawmaker Na told Oh, "While politics for the youth is good, I worry whether these pledges are truly feasible," to which Oh responded by questioning Na’s pledge to provide up to 170 million won support for newlyweds, calling it "handouts."

A common question posed to candidates is whether their pledges can be realized within the roughly one year and three months remaining in the Seoul mayor’s term. At Oh’s pledge announcement press conference held at the National Assembly Communication Hall that day, a question was raised about his "Seoul Olympic bid" pledge, asking, "Is it possible to pursue this given the short mayoral term?" Similarly, at Ahn’s "Global Economic City Seoul" pledge announcement, concerns were voiced about whether it could be implemented within one year.

Regarding this phenomenon, Park Won-ho, a professor of political science and diplomacy at Seoul National University, said, "Candidates are presenting large-scale pledges as if they will overturn the country, but such pledges will be difficult to implement within one year." He added, "This election is to fill the position of the previous mayor. The focus should be on what can be done and how it can be executed within one year."

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