Na Kyung-won and Oh Se-hoon Sharp Off-Site Clash... 'Primary Rules and Judging Panel' Conflict

Na Kyung-won "100% Complete National Primary, Against Democratic Principles"
Oh Se-hoon "Debate Judging Panel, Party Member-Centered Evaluation... Must Be Disbanded"

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Na Kyung-won and Oh Se-hoon, the preliminary candidates competing for the People Power Party's Seoul mayoral nomination, are engaged in sharp exchanges. Emotional rifts are emerging as they express dissatisfaction with various aspects of the primary election rules, including public opinion polls and the evaluation methods for head-to-head debates.

Na Kyung-won and Oh Se-hoon, candidates for the Seoul mayoral primary of the People Power Party, are attending the third head-to-head debate for Seoul mayoral preliminary candidates at the Baekbeom Kim Koo Memorial Hall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the 23rd, exchanging fist bumps. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

On the 25th, Na Kyung-won appeared on KBS Radio’s “Choi Kyung-young’s Strongest Current Affairs” and, regarding the 100% complete national primary system, said, "As a candidate, I will not argue about it," but added, "I think it goes against the principles of democracy regardless of advantages or disadvantages." She stated that allowing anyone, regardless of their party affiliation, to participate in the People Power Party’s Seoul mayoral primary is inappropriate. She pointed out, "When setting rules with candidate Ahn or when deciding the unified opposition candidate, it is the opposition candidate if selected by people who are not supporters of the ruling party," and added, "There is also a problem with the unified opposition candidate in that regard."

The People Power Party is adopting a 100% national primary system that allows participation in public opinion polls without asking about party affiliation or political orientation in the nomination process for Seoul and Busan mayoral candidates. In this regard, some within the party have expressed concerns that supporters of the ruling party might engage in ‘reverse voting’ to negatively influence the election results.

Oh Se-hoon, during a Q&A session after announcing regional pledges at the National Assembly Communication Office, said, "I understand that the party’s nomination management committee’s decision rules are set that way, and while the party may support another party, there may be citizens who support a different party’s candidate, and all of these people can participate." He added, "The rules were already set and applied last time," and said, "Raising such issues now is pointless."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Na Kyung-won, who is said to have an advantage in party support, and Oh Se-hoon, who is reportedly ahead in general public opinion, revealed differing perspectives.

Their evaluations of the head-to-head debate also diverged.

Oh Se-hoon formally requested the nomination committee, stating, "The current evaluation panel is composed 100% of recommendations from party district chiefs," and criticized, "Proper evaluation of the debate is not being conducted, making it even more problematic to consider it an objective citizen evaluation." He said, "The evaluation results centered on party members are being reported in the media under the name of citizen evaluation, which undermines trust in the debate evaluation results and has a high potential to seriously distort public opinion," and requested, "Please immediately disband the debate evaluation panel."

On the other hand, Na Kyung-won, who won against all candidates including Oh Se-hoon in the head-to-head debate, said, "I think the scores are given based on vision or execution ability," and added, "I believe this is a time that requires persistent will and careful judgment to get things done. I think those aspects were evaluated."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

There was also a clash over candidate unification and its possibility. Some speculated that Oh Se-hoon, Oh Shin-hwan, and Cho Eun-hee might unify their candidacies. During the debate, Na Kyung-won raised the issue of it being a ‘1 versus 3’ situation.

Oh Se-hoon strongly denied the question about unification, saying, "That is not true." Meanwhile, Na Kyung-won said, "There are various political engineering talks," but added, "I think Cho Eun-hee and Oh Shin-hwan also have a strong will to complete their campaigns," leaving room for interpretation.

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