The Democratic Party of Korea held its first joint debate for the Seoul mayoral primary. As candidate Chong Won-o is seen as the so-called "Myung-pick (Lee Jae-myung + pick)," the other candidates moved to keep Chong in check. In particular, given that Chong served as Seongdong District chief, they zeroed in on the rise in apartment prices in Seongdong District.
Democratic Party candidates for Seoul mayor Park Ju-min, Chong Won-o, Chun Hyun-hee, Kim Hyeong-nam, and Kim Young-bae (in ballot order) held their first joint debate on the afternoon of the 19th at SBS Prism Tower in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul.
The war of nerves among the Democratic Party candidates began with the "initiative debate." Candidate Park Ju-min pointed at candidate Chong Won-o, saying, "When the private sector develops dwellings, you say you will receive public sale apartments rather than rental apartments and supply them at 70% to 80% of market price, but that differs from the Lee Jae-myung administration's emphasis on rental supply."
Candidate Chun Hyun-hee also took aim at the local government ordinance to prevent gentrification from Chong Won-o's time as Seongdong District chief, saying, "The place where gentrification is most severe in Seoul is Seongsu-dong. (Chong Won-o) says the ordinance blocked gentrification, but in reality, an ordinance without compulsion cannot prevent it."
Candidate Kim Young-bae said Chong Won-o's "housing supply pledge" was weak. Kim said, "You have not announced many pledges yet. Among them, there is no vision related to housing supply," and asked, "Overall, is there no vision for to whom, how much, and at what pace to supply?"
However, candidate Kim Hyeong-nam posed a real estate–related question to candidate Park Ju-min rather than to candidate Chong Won-o. Kim asked Park, "Last Oct., you said that curbing the real estate surge through holding taxes was a clumsy policy. Do you still think the same now?"
Candidates Park Ju-min and Chun Hyun-hee repeatedly brought up candidate Chong Won-o's past remarks about "Seongdong District home prices." Earlier, on the 10th, Park posted on Facebook an article titled "Candidate Chong Won-o, are you still proud of the surge in Seongdong District home prices?" and criticized that "the rise in Seongdong's apartment prices was touted as an achievement."
At the debate that day, Park Ju-min also said, "I have seen many Democratic Party leaders so far, but I have never seen anyone call the rise in real estate prices their own achievement or performance," and Chun Hyun-hee said, "At a certain lecture, Chong Won-o called the rise in Seongdong District home prices an unprecedented case of development in Seoul. That differs from the Lee Jae-myung administration's real estate policy philosophy."
Candidate Chong Won-o, regarding his housing supply pledge, countered, "As the number of for-sale dwellings increases, rental dwellings can be created by law at a set ratio," and said, "I am participating most actively in the Lee Jae-myung administration's policy to stabilize home prices, and I share its intent."