People Power Party Criticizes Park Suh Hyun's "Riding on the Bandwagon" Pledge for Seocheon Specialty Market

PPP: "Construction to Begin Soon" vs DPK: "Responsibility for Delays" Debate

As Suh Hyun Park, the Democratic Party of Korea candidate for Governor of South Chungcheong Province, put forward the reconstruction of Seocheon Specialty Market as his "No. 1 pledge for Seocheon County," the People Power Party immediately raised objections.

The South Chungcheong Provincial Chapter of the People Power Party criticized Park, stating that he was "using an already ongoing recovery project for election purposes."

On April 23, the provincial branch issued a press release, criticizing, "(Candidate Park Suh Hyun) should not exploit the pain of Seocheon Specialty Market merchants for political gain."

On April 22, Park held a meeting with the Seocheon Specialty Market Merchants' Association and presented the market's reconstruction as his top pledge for Seocheon County.

In response, the provincial branch countered, "South Chungcheong Province and Governor Tae Heum Kim have already secured support equivalent to a special disaster area in 38 categories, including disaster relief funds and consolation payments, securing a special allocation tax of KRW 6 billion, and providing tax and financial support. Reconstruction plans have already been prepared through securing national funding."

The branch further explained, "Although the reconstruction project was temporarily suspended due to the construction company's court receivership, the reselection process is currently underway, and construction is expected to resume soon. Given these circumstances, putting forward this pledge to fuel political controversy is inappropriate."

It particularly emphasized, "This is a political attack that stokes merchants' anxieties by using the variable of construction delays as a pretext, and this election-focused conduct must stop immediately."

The Seocheon Specialty Market fire occurred on January 22, 2024, and was extinguished the following day, with all 227 stores in the seafood, general, and restaurant sections completely destroyed. About three months later, the market temporarily reopened on April 25.

Governor Tae Heum Kim responded swiftly at the time of the fire, taking discretionary action even though the criteria for declaring a disaster area were not met, and later chose Seocheon as his first visit among cities and counties, making market reconstruction a key priority.

South Chungcheong Province is investing a total of KRW 40 billion (KRW 15 billion in national funding and KRW 20 billion in local funding) for the reconstruction of Seocheon Specialty Market, aiming to break ground in the second half of this year and complete the project within one year and six months.

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