Kim Min-seok, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said on the 9th on the floor of the National Assembly that under "Seoul mayor candidate," the names written were Kang Hoon-sik, presidential chief of staff, Woo Won-shik, former National Assembly speaker, Jung Chung-rae, former Democratic Party leader, Kim Hyun-jong, former head of the Office of the Minister for Trade, and his own name.

In the afternoon on the 9th, a notebook belonging to Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok is spotted in the National Assembly plenary chamber; the notebook lists first names or initials of five Seoul mayoral candidates without their family names, and aside from "Cheong-rae," the rest are too blurred to identify. Provided by Dailian./Courtesy of Yonhap News

Kim appeared on "Democratic Party TV" on the morning of the 10th and, referring to the memo captured from his notebook the previous day, said, "Hoon-sik is Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik, Won-shik is Speaker Woo Won-shik, Chung-rae is Leader Jung Chung-rae, and after that, Hyun-jong is actually former head Kim Hyun-jong of the Office of the Minister for Trade."

Kim added, "I see a 99.99% chance that the Seoul mayoral election and the Gangneung National Assembly by-election will be held," and said, "It is natural to prepare, and I wrote down the people newly being mentioned in addition to the basic pool of candidates who ran in the last primary—Chong Won-o, Park Ju-min, Jeon Hyun-hee, Seo Young-kyo, Park Hong-keun."

As for the letters MS, he said, "That is my name." Kim said, "It does not mean I will run; I wrote it while analyzing what kind of candidate with what elements should run to appeal to Seoul, whether it would be a surefire card."

He continued, "I think I erased it by hand so (reporters) could not see it, but there were also Seoul National University professor Kim Kyung-min and former lawmaker Kim Jin-ae." He added, "I did not ask all those who were mentioned as potential candidates about their intentions, so there is that."

However, former leader Jung also publicly expressed displeasure after Kim's notebook was made public. Jung wrote on his Facebook the previous day, "Last time you grabbed the mic and toyed with me, and now you hit me with a notebook. I am displeased."

He added, "For Seoul mayor, write down in your notebook that 'Min-seok' and 'Young-gil,' who dreamed of becoming Seoul mayor but lost, are also good candidates."

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