The Democratic Party of Korea's primary for Seoul mayor will be held on the 23rd-24th. Using a "100% dues-paying members" method, three of five preliminary candidates will be selected. Park Ju-min is ramping up his offensive against Chong Won-o, the head of Seongdong District.
Until now, Chong Won-o had shown an overwhelming lead, but assessments say he lost a fair number of points after the recent joint debate. Attention is on whether the "Chong Won-o one-man race" will be shaken in the preliminary primary.
◇ Chong Won-o tops polls, Park Ju-min second… "The mood has changed since the joint debate"
At the joint debates on the 19th-20th, Park Ju-min focused his attacks on Chong Won-o. Park said, "On Sept. 30 last year, Deutsch Motors also sponsored the Seongdong District chief's cup, and a scene was even made public showing (Chong) drinking with the chairman of Deutsch Motors' son." Deutsch Motors figured in allegations of stock manipulation involving former President Yoon Suk-yeol's wife, Kim Keon-hee.
Park made similar remarks at a National Assembly press conference on the 22nd. Park said, "Whether there is stock manipulation or corporations take unfair gains through unfair transaction practices and face public criticism, should they all be sponsored and backed just because they are companies in the district?" adding, "(Chong) held 'dirty hands,' the dirty hand."
In response, Chong Won-o's side issued a commentary the same day, saying, "Dragging into the party primary the People Power Party's politically motivated claims about Deutsch Motors' sponsorship is déjà vu of the People Power Party's behavior tying President Lee Jae-myung to sponsorship for Seongnam FC," and "It brings to mind the outdated politics of the political prosecutors of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration."
It added, "We understand that (Park) has become urgent ahead of the primary, but groundless slander against a party candidate must be seen as self-harm that damages 'one-team spirit' and weakens competitiveness in the general election," adding, "Candidate Chong will move to a square of policies, not a swamp of negatives."
In a recent poll on suitability for Seoul mayor among the Democratic Party preliminary candidates, Chong Won-o ranked first (61.2%) and Park Ju-min second (14.5%). Commissioned by Straight News, the survey by Jowon C&I was conducted over two days on Feb. 28–March 1 of 804 men and women aged 18 or older living in Seoul. Among 428 Democratic Party supporters in the sample, when asked about suitability for Seoul mayor among the five Democratic Party preliminary candidates, the responses came in the order of Chong Won-o, Park Ju-min, Park Hong-keun, Jun Hyun-hee, and Kim Young-bae.
Inside and outside the Democratic Party, some say, "The mood has changed a bit after holding the joint debate." The view is that as Park and other preliminary candidates focused their attacks, Chong lost a fair number of points.
Kim Jin-ae, chair of the National Architecture Policy Committee and a former two-term Democratic Party lawmaker, appeared on YouTube "OhmyTV" that day and said, "Everyone is looking at Candidate Chong with a queasy eye. When asked about housing policy, to say let's talk after announcing because there has been no announcement is constant evasion," adding, "If it goes like this and he faces Mayor Oh Se-hoon in the general election, he will lose."
◇ President Lee praises Park after Chong
On Dec. 8 last year, President Lee Jae-myung mentioned the statistic "Seongdong District residents' satisfaction 92.9%" on X (formerly Twitter), saying, "It seems Chong Won-o is indeed good at his job. My satisfaction rating as Seongnam mayor was quite high, but I don't think I could even present my business card." This prompted talk in political circles that "the president has greatly boosted Chong" and "the president appears to be backing Chong, who, like him, is a former basic local government chief."
But recently the president also mentioned Park Ju-min on X (formerly Twitter). On the 13th, sharing Park's post that the National College of Medicine bill passed the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee, Lee said, "This wasn't easy; thank you for the medical reform achievement." This time, talk emerged that "the president also seems to be giving strength to Park, a sitting lawmaker and major preliminary candidate," and that he "appears mindful of the view that he had tilted completely toward Chong."
The slugfest between District Chief Chong Won-o and Rep. Park Ju-min is expected to intensify over time. A Democratic Party official said, "Since Park has been preparing for the Seoul mayoral race since last year, he won't easily be pushed aside by Chong," adding, "The question is how much the Chong Won-o one-man race will be shaken in the preliminary." The main primary will then be held on the 5th–7th of next month using a "50% dues-paying members, 50% public opinion poll" method.
※ The poll cited in the article was an ARS survey (100% mobile virtual numbers, random sampling with proportional allocation by gender, age group, and region) with a response rate of 5.6%. The margin of error is ±3.5 percentage points (p) at a 95% confidence level. For details, refer to the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.