Na wins victory in quest to be Seoul mayor

By Kim Tae-gyu

Staff Reporter

Rep. Na Kyung-won of the governing Grand National Party (GNP) chalked up a major success in her bid to become the mayor of Seoul, but the second-term legislator still has a long way to go to eventually achieve her goal.

In an opinion poll conducted Friday involving 1,000 party members and 2,000 Seoul citizens, Na defeated Rep. Won Hee-ryong according to party officials.

On pre-set arrangements, the latter would support the former in the primary. Under the agreement, however, they did not announce the results of the survey, though the GNP said it was close. Won said that he will take on the role of chief campaigner for Na in the June 2 election.

``The GNP should not rest on vested rights nor be afraid of change. We need a new face ready to change to win the election. Along with Rep. Won, we will win out,'' Na said after the results were announced.

With Won's withdrawal, one of three candidates ― incumbent Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Kim Choong-hwan and Na ― will run for the mayoral nomination of the governing party.

Commentators say that Oh is the runaway leader but Na has now emerged as a serious threat to his re-election bid. Kim is generally regarded as the also ran in the three-way rivalry.

Although Oh is favored to win the nomination, some predict Na has a shot at defeating him as an underdog.

Should she best the current Seoul mayor, the mayoralty race could be an all-women race involving Na, the former spokeswoman of the GNP, and former Prime Minister Han Myung-sook.

Han has yet to win the nomination of the coalition of opposition camps ― which includes her Democratic Party ― but the 65-year-old is widely expected to stand out because other contenders are struggling with single-digit support.

Other candidates from minor parties such as Lee Sang-kyu from the Democratic Labor Party and Roh Hoi-chan from the New Progressive Party are seen as long shots.

The Seoul mayoralty has recently been dubbed as a springboard for the presidency. Current President Lee Myung-bak served as mayor of the city from 2002 to 2006 ahead of Oh.