Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
Kim returns to primary
By Jun Ji-hye
Kim Hwang-sik
By Jun Ji-hye
Former Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik said Sunday that he has decided to return to the Saenuri Party’s primary race for the Seoul mayoral election, four days after announcing a boycott.
“For the past three days, I have had time to think about how to overcome my disappointment about the behavior of the party and my competitors,” Kim told a press briefing at his campaign headquarters in Yeouido.
“I decided to return to the race as I am well aware that reclaiming the mayoral post is one of the most significant goals of the governing camp.”
The decision came after Kim canceled all his official appointments, Thursday, accusing his competitors ― seven-term lawmaker Chung Mong-joon and Supreme Council member Lee Hye-hoon ― of making a “big deal” to defeat him.
The former prime minister speculated that Lee promised to drop her bid halfway through the campaign to support Chung, in return for a promise from the lawmaker to hand his constituency (Seoul’s Dongjak-gu) to her in the July by-elections.
In response, Lee and Chung accused Kim of receiving President Park Geun-hye’s support, stating that the only reason the party’s nomination committee postponed the deadline for local election hopefuls to register as potential candidates was due to Kim’s late return from his trip to the United States.
“My competitors made groundless statements to hold me in check, and the party did not provide a sufficient explanation about that, further adding to the absurd rumors,” said Kim. “This made me skeptical about whether I made the right decision to run in the primary.”
He added he now just wants the party to fairly manage the primary whose winner will confront sitting Mayor Park Won-soon of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, a coalition between the Democratic Party and independent lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo’s camp.