Sweat and Struggle Over Setback Ahead of United Progressive Front... Park Faces Headache Over Poll Ratings Rebound

"Anyway Park" Unification Fails to Gain Momentum
Increased Offensive Against Candidate Oh Se-hoon
Attempts to Break Through with Successive Policy Announcements

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] The Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) scandal has overturned the landscape of the April by-elections, sharpening the tone and accelerating the pace of Park Young-sun, the Democratic Party of Korea's candidate for Seoul mayor. In a situation where it has become urgent to reverse the trend leaning toward the opposition party, Park is focusing on announcing new pledges while simultaneously launching a two-track strategy led by her campaign to check the opposition candidates.

On the afternoon of the 17th, the results of the unification opinion poll between Park and Kim Jin-ae, the Open Democratic Party candidate, will be announced, deciding the final candidate for the pro-government camp. In the two previous debates, the two candidates engaged in fiery exchanges that crossed the line, but the LH scandal overshadowed the events, preventing them from gaining much traction. The predetermined notion that "the pro-government candidate is Park Young-sun anyway" was also cited as a factor that dampened interest.

After a ‘smooth’ unification with candidate Kim, a thorny path is anticipated. Public dissatisfaction sparked by allegations of land speculation by LH employees has spread to criticism of the current administration’s real estate policies, leaving a mark on Park’s previously rising approval ratings. Various polls show Park trailing in both two-way and three-way races, heightening the sense of crisis within her campaign. Park needs a turning point to regain attention, but the situation is not easy. Her previous proposal to implement a 4.5-day workweek and rename ‘Labor Day’ as ‘Workers’ Day’ also failed to attract significant attention.

At a press conference that morning, Park sought to win over small business owners by proposing a ‘30% rent reduction.’ She stated, "Upon taking office, I will immediately implement a ‘bold rent support system’ to reduce small business owners’ rent by 30%, and Seoul City will support landlords with half of the reduction amount (15%)." In the afternoon, she completed visits to three districts?Guro-gu, her former constituency, and the neighboring Geumcheon-gu and Yangcheon-gu?all in one go. Considering that she initially visited one location each in Chang-dong and Magok to announce pledges, this reflects her ‘urgent’ pace.

More notable than the policies is Park’s changed tone. On this day, she criticized Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party candidate, saying, "Those who do not tell the truth are just like MB (Lee Myung-bak)." Park’s campaign has also continued its daily offensive against Oh’s alleged land speculation in Naegok-dong, accusing him of ‘lying.’ They have issued as many as five statements in a single day. Park also harshly criticized Ahn Cheol-soo, the People’s Party candidate, saying, "He fails to get to the core in debates. This is because he lacks administrative experience and therefore cannot grasp the essentials."

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