Will Former Gangseo District Mayor Kim Tae-woo Become a Challenger to Former Minister Cho Kuk?

Former Seoul Gangseo District Mayor Kim Tae-woo, who exposed allegations of cover-up during his time in the Blue House Special Inspection Team, was pardoned and reinstated on August 15 as a Liberation Day special pardon. Following this, a social media war with former Minister Cho Kuk has unfolded... Five-term Democratic Party lawmaker Ahn Min-seok appeared on the radio on the 17th, stating, "He will continue to grow in attacking former Minister Cho Kuk..." and analyzed that "Cho Kuk was targeted through Kim Tae-woo."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim Tae-woo, former Seoul Gangseo District Mayor who exposed allegations of cover-up by the Blue House Special Inspection Team under the Moon Jae-in administration, was pardoned and reinstated on August 15 as a Liberation Day special pardon, drawing attention to prospects regarding his future position.

On the 14th, Kim released a statement in his name for the first time, saying, "I thank the people who corrected the political trial and President Yoon Seok-yeol... It is as if only the whistleblower was punished when I reported to catch the thief," and added, "I will return to Gangseo."

This is a protest claiming he became a victim of an unfair political trial after striking at the core of the Moon Jae-in regime.

Kim, who worked as a member of the Blue House Civil Affairs Office Special Inspection Team at the end of 2018, exposed allegations of cover-up of the investigation into Yoo Jae-soo, then Civil Affairs Secretary Cho Kuk’s subordinate. Subsequently, Kim was indicted on charges of leaking official secrets and in May this year, the Supreme Court confirmed a sentence of one year imprisonment with two years probation, resulting in the loss of his mayoral position.

Due to Kim’s revelations, Cho Kuk and others involved were found guilty in the first trial for obstructing the duties of the special inspection team by covering up the investigation into Yoo Jae-soo, former Busan City Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs.

Cho Kuk, who has this bitter connection, recently posted criticism of Kim’s special pardon on his social media.

In response, Kim has not hesitated to play the role of ‘Cho Kuk’s sniper,’ rebutting that when he was told to catch the thief, the whistleblower was instead scolded.

Meanwhile, Ahn Min-seok, a five-term Democratic Party lawmaker, said on the 17th that Kim would continue to attack former Minister Cho Kuk and grow in influence. He said, "They targeted Cho Kuk through Kim Tae-woo," and "Kim Tae-woo will be used as Cho Kuk’s hunting dog."

Ahn appeared on YTN’s 'News King with Park Ji-hoon' and said, "From our perspective, Kim Tae-woo is a traitor, but from the Yoon Seok-yeol administration’s view, he is one of the key contributors to the birth of the regime." He added, "Right after the pardon, Kim did not express remorse but made very sharp remarks attacking Cho Kuk. Going forward, Kim will continue to attack Cho Kuk, grow in size, and secure his political space."

Regarding whether Kim would run in the Gangseo District mayoral by-election, Ahn said, "I don’t think he is solely aiming for the mayor position," and added, "Rather than rushing to run for mayor, he will likely buy time, attack former Minister Cho Kuk and former President Moon Jae-in, act as the ruling party’s hunting dog until the general election, and secretly consider running in Gangseo."

Ahn also saw proportional representation as an alternative. He said, "We must win this general election somehow, and I think it is possible to give Kim a proportional representation seat so he can act as a hunting dog attacking our opposition nationwide during the election period," adding, "Kim will likely avoid running for mayor."

Meanwhile, in an interview with Chosun.com on the same day, Kim said, "My belief that the Kim Myung-soo judiciary made a political judgment because I targeted the Moon Jae-in administration remains unchanged. Gangseo is the place that made me mayor when I had nowhere to go as a whistleblower. I felt an obligation to repay that, but I feel sorry for causing a gap in district administration due to matters unrelated to elections (meaning not election law violations)."

Kim also revealed that during the three months after stepping down as mayor, he has been living alone in a rented villa costing 300,000 won per month. He said he signed the contract in May to experience the inconvenience caused to local residents by redevelopment delays and shared that he once had a cockroach crawl on his face while sleeping.

He showed strong determination for Gangseo district development, saying he made this decision to revitalize the old downtown area, just like his slogan "Make Hwagok like Magok."

However, there is also resistance within the People Power Party regarding Kim’s possible candidacy for the Gangseo District mayoral election on October 11, so the possibility of him running in next year’s general election, as Ahn predicted, cannot be ruled out.

As long as former Minister Cho Kuk’s influence remains alive in the opposition camp, Kim Tae-woo also seems likely to grow as a rival candidate.

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