The Democratic Party's 'Gangseo District Mayor Race' Kicks Off... Kwon Young-se, Na Kyung-won, and Ahn Cheol-soo Join the Campaign Committee

Appointment Ceremony at Election Office on the Afternoon of the 26th
Major Figures from the Capital Region Join the Campaign Headquarters
Kim Ki-hyun: "If Kim Tae-woo Had Not Been There, the Great Evil Would Have Hidden"

The People Power Party has officially launched the campaign committee for the upcoming October 11 by-election for the Mayor of Gangseo District, Seoul, intensifying the race. The campaign committee includes many senior members from the metropolitan area and Chungcheong region, tailored to the characteristics of the local constituency.

On the afternoon of the 26th, the People Power Party held an appointment ceremony at candidate Kim Tae-woo's campaign office located in Gangseo-gu, where appointment letters were presented to the campaign committee chairpersons and standing advisors. The campaign committee chairpersons will be jointly held by former lawmakers Kim Sung-tae (Gangseo-eul party committee chairman), Koo Sang-chan (Gangseo-gap party committee chairman), and former Seoul city council member Kim Yong-sung.

Standing advisors include senior metropolitan area politicians such as former lawmaker Na Kyung-won (Seoul Dongjak-eul, four terms), lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo (Gyeonggi Bundang-gap, three terms), and lawmaker Kwon Young-se (Seoul Yongsan, four terms). Senior Chungcheong-origin politicians, lawmaker Chung Jin-seok and National Assembly Vice Speaker Chung Woo-taek, were appointed as honorary co-chairs of the campaign committee. This reflects the fact that Gangseo is a constituency with many residents from the Chungcheong region. In his greeting, lawmaker Chung said, "The reason I was appointed as honorary chair is probably because many Chungcheong natives live in this Gangseo area." Former lawmaker Na also added, "I came here because I am also a daughter of Chungcheong."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Party leader Kim Ki-hyun emphasized that candidate Kim is a 'whistleblower' during the appointment ceremony. He said, "Candidate Kim is the person who, undeterred by the harsh persecution of the Moon Jae-in administration, revealed the reality of power-related corruption to the public and fired the starting signal of the Cho Kuk scandal," adding, "If it were not for candidate Kim's voice of conscience, the great evil would have continued to hide behind power."

Former lawmaker Na, who serves as a standing advisor, also said, "If it were not for candidate Kim at that time, our party would not have been able to expose the immoral corruption of the Moon Jae-in administration of the Democratic Party," and added, "In that sense, our party feels a kind of debt to candidate Kim. From that perspective, candidate Kim's honor is not restored simply by being pardoned, but by winning the election."

Additionally, the campaign committee highlighted that candidate Kim was selected through a 'fair primary' rather than a strategic nomination. Lawmaker Ahn said, "I cannot help but question whether the series of actions by the Gangseo District mayoral candidate, who shows no interest in the residents of Gangseo and acts as a tool to protect the party leader he belongs to, aligns with the wishes of the Gangseo residents," adding, "It is not hard to understand. As you know, he is a candidate nominated by parachuting from Lee Jae-myung."

Former lawmaker and campaign committee chair Kim Sung-tae also emphasized, "The People Power Party fairly produced candidate Kim through a democratic primary process," and added, "Now, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, and Gangseo District Mayor Kim Tae-woo can solely serve as the central axis for economic development in the southwest region."

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