The Negative War Begins... "Self-Compensation Resembling MB" vs "Stop Money-Printing Populism"

[Asia Economy Reporters Oh Ju-yeon and Geum Bo-ryeong] Since the lineup for the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election was finalized as a two-horse race between ‘Park Young-sun VS Oh Se-hoon,’ the negative exchanges between the two candidates have been intensifying.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the morning of the 24th, Park Young-sun, the Democratic Party candidate for Seoul mayor, appeared consecutively on radio broadcasts to criticize Oh Se-hoon of the People Power Party as an "old and failed mayor." Regarding the allegations of self-compensation in Naegok-dong, she harshly remarked that "sweeping it under the rug resembles MB (former President Lee Myung-bak)." She also hinted at increasing pressure on Oh by stating that more tips related to the Naegok-dong allegations are coming in.

From Park’s perspective, who has been trailing Oh in various opinion polls, she may have concluded that a negative strategy was the only card left to play. She also took a strong stance by mentioning the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) scandal. Although it could be burdensome for Park as the ruling party candidate, she attempted to shift some of the blame for the LH scandal?which has become a quagmire eroding the ruling party’s support?toward the opposition by saying, "Naegok-dong is like the original LH."

On the other hand, Oh targeted Park with harsh terms such as ‘Donpulrism (Money + Populism)’ and ‘black electioneering.’ From the start to the end of a press briefing held at the National Assembly that day, Oh devoted his time to countering Park. Regarding Park’s pledge of ‘100,000 won disaster relief money per person,’ Oh said, "From today, we will call it ‘Donpulrism,’" and sharply criticized it as "a pledge to hand out money envelopes with citizens’ money." He also strongly condemned her by saying, "Stop black propaganda, dirty elections, and money politics, and remain a dignified loser."

Oh Se-hoon, the unified candidate of the opposition coalition for the Seoul mayoral by-election, is holding a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office on the 23rd. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

That afternoon, the People Power Party’s Seoul mayoral by-election campaign committee decided to file a complaint against Park for violating Article 250 of the Public Official Election Act (false information disclosure offense).

They cornered Park by accusing her of publicly disclosing false information regarding the purchase and purpose of an apartment in Tokyo with the ‘intention to win the election.’ Although Park stated that she purchased it for ‘actual residence,’ a check of the registry showed no record of moving in after buying it in 2009, and she only moved in in 2020, having rented it out for a while and collected rent, according to the claims.

Lee Jun-seok, former Supreme Council member of the United Future Party and head of Oh’s new media headquarters, mocked on Facebook that day, saying, "Park said it was a small apartment of about 20 pyeong, but the average housing area in Tokyo is 65.9㎡, and 20% of Tokyo’s population lives in places smaller than 19.7㎡," adding, "Park’s apartment is 71㎡."

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