Ex-ruling party member may run for Seoul mayoral by-election as opposition candidate
Keum Tae-sup, a former lawmaker who recently left the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), speaks during his lecture for first-term lawmakers of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) at the National Assembly, Wednesday. Yonhap
By Jung Da-min
With prospective candidates gearing up to compete for the Seoul mayoral post in next year's by-election, Keum Tae-sup, a former lawmaker who recently left the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) in protest of the party's stances on various issues, hinted that he could also run in the election as a candidate representing the opposition.
Late last month, Keum left the DPK after harshly criticizing the party for its “divisive and arrogant” stance on controversial issues, including policies related to President Moon Jae-in's judiciary reform. Five months before he left the DPK, the party's ethics committee decided to issue him with a warning for opposing a bill proposed by the party. The bill was to launch a separate investigative body to look into corruption among high-ranking officials and their family members, one of Moon's key election pledges.
The DPK ethics committee's decision received criticism from both within and outside of the party for trying to restrict the right of lawmakers to freely express their views as representatives of the people. Keum left the party before it came to a final conclusion on how to handle the situation.
With his departure from the DPK, Keum has become a symbolic figure who stands against the ruling bloc and could be a prospective candidate representing the opposition bloc.
On Wednesday, Keum gave a lecture for first-term lawmakers of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP). Speaking on the possibility of his running for the Seoul mayoral post in next year's by-elections, Keum said that he is giving it “deep consideration” and would take a role suitable for him. “I am not going to speak about my final decision now but I will when I have determined my next move,” he said during the lecture at the National Assembly.
On possibility of joining the PPP to run in the Seoul mayoral by-election, however, Keum said he does not believe his joining the main opposition party will meet the public's hopes for him to come up with an alternative. But he left room for talks with the PPP saying members of the opposition bloc should find “the greatest common measure” and make concessions to each other to form a solidarity of the opposition.
Meanwhile, calls are growing among the opposition members that powerful figures such as Yoo Seong-min of the PPP, a former four-term lawmaker and a former presidential candidate in the 2017 election; Oh Se-hoon of the PPP, former Seoul mayor from 2006 to 2011; and Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the minor opposition People's Party, should run in the Seoul mayoral election.
Yoo Seong-min, a former four-term lawmaker and a former presidential candidate in the 2017 election, now with the main opposition People Power Party, speaks during a press conference at his new office in Seoul, Wednesday. Yoo said that he would run for the upcoming presidential election in 2022. Yonhap
But all three have said that they have no plans to run for the Seoul mayor post.
Yoo said that he would instead run for the upcoming presidential election in 2022, speaking at a press conference held Wednesday at his new office named “Hope 22,” recently set up on Yeouido, Seoul.
Ahn, also a former presidential candidate in the 2017 election, said that he would not run for the mayoral by-election, implying that he would instead run for the presidency again. Ahn has recently called for the opposition parties to make a new platform to show the opposition bloc's firm determination for reform to the public, but the PPP has only offered a lukewarm response.
Oh has said he hopes the party will find other candidates for the mayoral post.