Mayoral campaign kicks off

By Park Si-soo

The official campaigns for the Oct. 26 by-election for Seoul mayor kicked off Thursday.

Both ruling and opposition camps are flexing their political muscles to see their own candidate win the election, seen as a litmus test of public sentiment ahead of the general and presidential elections next year.

Seoul mayor hopeful Na Kyung-won of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) spent the first day touring across the capital along with her “star-studded” campaigners. Na is backed, above all, by former GNP chairwoman Park Geun-hye, nicknamed “Election Queen” for her popularity among conservative citizens.

Her rival Park Won-soon, the unified candidate of the opposition camp, devoted his time and energy to delivering speeches on the streets, visiting conventional markets and other populous locations.

The significance of the upcoming election is well reflected by the list of official supporters for each candidate. It was the first time in four years for Park, the daughter of late President Park Chung-hee who is widely viewed as the front-runner in the 2012 election that will pick President Lee Myung-bak’s successor, to openly take part in an election campaign as a supporter.

The former GNP chairwoman visited seven business areas in southwestern Seoul, Thursday, imploring people to cast a vote for “dear Na.” “Na is warm-hearted person who is ready to care greatly for disabled people,” she told people, referring to Na’s daughter who has autism. “I believe she, if elected, will run Seoul with a mind of a warm-hearted mother.”

Park Won-soon, a human rights lawyer and social activist, has the support of many liberal politicians, entertainers and celebrities. Among them are popular novelist Kong Ji-young, movie director Lee Chang-dong, actress Moon So-ri and TV journalist Shin Kyung-min.

“They will give their full support by capitalizing on their talent and expertise,” a spokesman for Park said. Park’s camp plans to make full use of social networking services (SNS) such as Twitter and Facebook to appeal to young voters.

Meanwhile, a recent poll showed Na leading over Park by a narrow margin of 3.1 percent, the first time for the GNP candidate to lead her rival. Woo Sang-ho, a spokesman for Park, said, “It’s too early to judge the outcome of the election.”