By Chung Min-uck
Lawyer-turned-civic activist Park Won-soon, 55, grabbed the Seoul mayoral post by riding on the so-called “Ahn Cheol-soo phenomenon,” that swept the nation during the entire campaign period.
Earlier last month, Park entered the political scene announcing his run for the top post of Seoul city. After entrepreneur-turned-professor Ahn Cheol-soo conceded the mayoral bid to Park, his support rate rose sharply and he emerged as an unrivaled front runner in various opinion polls.
Park also won the liberal camp’s ticket as a “unified” candidate to face off against Na Kyung-won of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP).
His lead, however, was shaken as the mayoral race became fiercer with the ruling party’s smear campaign, which alleged military evasion, academic forgery and unethical sponsorship received from companies by Park.
Riding on the last-minute support from Ahn, however, he solidified his chances of winning the race.
Park’s victory will likely shake up the current political scene. There is speculation over the possible rise of a third power represented by Ahn, which will pose a threat to established party politics. The move by Ahn, an IT mogul, in support of Park was largely interpreted as his willingness to enter the political arena.
But it remains to be seen whether a “third party” will emerge. Experts say that Ahn and his followers are unlikely to join the current parties as their support from the people comes from the image of an alternative to established politics.
In the meantime, members of opposition parties including Rep. Sohn Hak-kyu, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party, were jubilant over the win by Park.
In contrast, GNP members were plunged into panic over the defeat of their candidate Na.
The Seoul mayor-elect hails from Changnyeong, South Gyeongsang Province. He came to Seoul to attend Kyunggi High School and entered Seoul National University in 1975. But, after just three months of campus life he was expelled for participating in a demonstration, an incident that had a great impact on him and led to him becoming a civic activist.
He passed the bar exam in 1980 to become a prosecutor but resigned six months later.
In 1983, he chose to work as a civic rights lawyer. After studying in England and the U.S. for two years, Park established the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) in 1994 and started his career as an activist.
After leaving the PSPD, he assumed the leadership of the Beautiful Store before joining the Hope Institute.