[Park Jong-il Autonomous News] Common Points in the 2021 and 2010 Seoul Mayoral Elections?... Judgment on 'Arrogance' That Took Away 'Real Estate (Property)' and 'Life' Reflected

4·7 Seoul Mayor By-election Results Reflect Public Concerns Over Soaring Housing Prices, Rent, and Property Taxes Due to Government's Aggressive Real Estate Policies; Opposition People Power Party Expected to Win Amid Citizens' Fear of Property Loss and LH Employees' Real Estate Speculation... 2010 MB Government Local Election Saw Democratic Party Victory Amid War Fears; Election Shows Forces Threatening Citizens' Property and Life Lose Regardless of Party... Today

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] According to exit polls by the three terrestrial broadcasters KBS, MBC, and SBS, Oh Se-hoon leads with 59% versus Park Young-sun's 37.7%.

Before the Seoul mayoral by-election began, various opinion polls showed a gap of over 20% between candidate Oh and candidate Park, and the exit poll results announced after the election on the 7th were not significantly different.

With voting closing at 8 p.m. on the 7th and counting underway, the final results remain to be seen, but it seems unlikely that the election outcome will be overturned.

◇ April 7 Seoul Mayoral By-election: Judgment on the Current Government's 'Real Estate' Policy

This election strongly reflected public anger over real estate issues, serving as a judgment on the current government.

The saying "Elections are scarier than bullets," attributed to U.S. President Lincoln, rings true. The public sentiment expressed on the ballots in the April 7 by-election once again demonstrated that elections are indeed scarier than bullets.

Another saying by Park Ji-won, former National Intelligence Service director, "Golf and elections are doomed the moment you raise your head," proved accurate once again. The April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election results reaffirmed the truth that "arrogance leads to defeat in elections."

Park Young-sun, the Democratic Party candidate, is expected to suffer a crushing defeat, which can be seen as Seoul citizens' judgment on the ruling party's 'arrogance.' In particular, this election was essentially a referendum by 'angry citizens' on the government and ruling party due to real estate issues.

Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party candidate, faced controversy over self-compensation for land in Naegok-dong, but this issue was overshadowed by the real estate judgment.

The Moon Jae-in administration issued 25 real estate policies. Although some price surges were inevitable, real estate prices soared each time a new measure was introduced.

All remedies proved ineffective. The government and ruling party ignored advice from real estate experts and forcefully pushed through the three real estate laws, which extended the lease period to '2 plus 2 years,' triggering a surge in jeonse (key money deposit) prices.

With both sale prices and jeonse prices skyrocketing, those without homes found themselves helpless. On top of this, tightened loan regulations made it difficult for the 20s and 30s generation to buy homes, turning housing into a 'nuclear bomb' issue ahead of the April 7 by-election.

Meanwhile, the official apartment land prices nationwide rose by 19%, imposing heavy property and comprehensive real estate taxes on homeowners. Citizens owning one or two homes in Gangnam faced sudden tax bills amounting to tens of millions of won, leaving them in despair.

A resident of Seocho-gu, Mr. A, said, "I have to live on my national pension after retirement, but the absurdly high comprehensive real estate tax makes me worry about how I can survive," adding, "I cannot help but judge the government and ruling party in this election."

Another resident, Mr. B, stated, "Even if my child asks for just 10 million won, it's difficult, so who would be happy if the government imposes taxes of several million to tens of millions? Seoul citizens are deeply angry because the government does not consider the hardships of people during the COVID-19 era, and this anger is reflected in the election results."

Meanwhile, land speculation by LH employees on new town candidate sites was like pouring gasoline on a burning house. Public institution employees involved in developing new towns made huge profits through real estate speculation, shattering the principle of 'fairness.'

It would not be an exaggeration to say this election was a 'real estate election.'

A Seoul city official analyzed, "Under the Moon administration, no real estate policy showed effectiveness. In the end, the government, anxious, released ideological policies rather than market-based ones, complicating the problem further. The policies were criticized by both homeowners and non-homeowners, so it makes no sense to be optimistic about the election results," offering their perspective.

In short, the April 7 election result was not a victory because People Power's Oh Se-hoon performed well.

Votes poured in for Oh as a judgment on the ruling party's failures.

◇ Backlash from 2010 MB Government's Pre-local Election 'Willingness to Go to War with North Korea' Remarks

This kind of result was also seen in the 2010 local elections during the 5th local government term. After the Cheonan incident, the election was held amid extreme inter-Korean tensions, with President Lee Myung-bak stating he was willing to go to war with North Korea.

As a result, citizens felt their lives threatened by the possibility of war and overwhelmingly supported opposition Democratic Party candidates. Of course, the Seoul mayoral election at that time was a three-way race among ruling party candidate Oh Se-hoon, former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook, and Justice Party candidate Roh Hoe-chan. Investigations into Han's bribery allegations and Roh Hoe-chan's gaining over 100,000 votes led to Oh narrowly winning with a surge of votes in Gangnam at dawn.

In the remaining 25 district mayor elections in Seoul, the Democratic Party won 21 districts, except for Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa, and Jungnang districts.

This was also a massive defeat for the ruling party, which showed 'arrogant' behavior that unsettled the public.

Thus, elections often result in victory not because of one's own strength but due to the opponent's mistakes. In this election, Oh Se-hoon's victory was more a result of the current government's failures than his own merits.

Therefore, the winner should adopt a humble attitude. The public will again wield a harsh whip against arrogance.

Politicians often say, "Public sentiment is the sea, and politics is the boat." When public sentiment turns angry, it can overturn and sink the boat?a frightening truth.

Both winners and losers must remember the call for humility.

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