Lee Nak-yeon Targets Candidate Oh: "A Strange Fellow Dividing Seoul into Gangnam and Non-Gangnam"

On the 31st, Lee Nak-yeon, the central election committee chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea, is giving a speech appealing for support for candidate Park Young-sun in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Lee Nak-yeon, the central election committee chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea, unleashed criticism targeting Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party's Seoul mayoral candidate, on the 31st. On the day, Lee, who joined a campaign rally supporting Park Young-sun, the Democratic Party's Seoul mayoral candidate, pointed out at the rally held in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, that Oh was a "strange fellow dividing Seoul into Gangnam and non-Gangnam." This appears to criticize Oh's repeated remarks during a prior TV debate, where he distinguished Seoul into Gangnam and non-Gangnam areas.

During the TV debate held on the 29th, Oh launched an offensive against the Moon Jae-in administration's real estate failures, repeatedly using the term "non-Gangnam." Following this, various social networking services (SNS) saw critical voices such as "As a non-Gangnam resident, I feel offended," and "This is a dichotomy dividing Korea into Gangnam and non-Gangnam."

At a campaign rally in Gangseo-gu, Lee continued his criticism, saying, "Some people say you should go back to when you were mayor. Sorry, but if you want to go, go alone." He then added, "What do you want to do by going back 10 years? Take away elementary school meals again? Keep building strange buildings at Seoul City Hall? Keep putting up Sevit Floating Islands and things no one knows what they are along the Han River?"

Lee also addressed Oh's remarks about "sons of rich families and children from poor families," saying, "Are the sons of rich families 'children' and kids from poor families 'ag-deul' (kids)? Can such a person truly understand the pain of ordinary people?" He then directly attacked Oh, saying, "Sorry, but as a leader, your flaws are too great."

Meanwhile, Lee appealed, "The person who says they will work every day and does not lie is Park Young-sun," and added, "If you want a mayor who empathizes with your pain and sheds tears, you should choose Park Young-sun."

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