Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Gangseo District by-election to serve as barometer for general election
Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea's Gangseo District mayor candidate Jin Gyo-hoon, left, and ruling People Power Party candidate Kim Tae-woo raise their hands as they campaign in the southwestern district of Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap
By Nam Hyun-woo
Parties throw full support for proxy war between Yoon, Lee
A by-election for the head of Seoul’s Gangseo District is gaining significant political attention, with rival parties sending their heavyweights to support their respective candidates, in anticipation that the race will act as a barometer of public sentiment in the lead-up to next year’s general election.
Scheduled for Oct. 11, the by-election will be the last opportunity to vote for a public post before the general election on April 10. It comes at a time when conflicts between the ruling conservative People Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition progressive Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) have reached a breaking point.
Although it is a relatively small election with approximately 500,000 eligible voters, this by-election is expected to serve as a referendum 0f sorts on the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, inaugurated in May 2022.
While the PPP sees the election as an opportunity to overturn the DPK's control in the National Assembly, the DPK is also viewing the election as a critical inflection point for the party, which has been struggling with ongoing concerns and criticism of its leadership, stemming from the party’s factional infighting.
Ruling People Power Party Chairman Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, left, talks with Kim Tae-woo, the party's candidate in the Gangseo District leadership by-election, during a labor union meeting in the southwestern Seoul district, Tuesday. Yonhap
During the Chuseok long weekend last week, the PPP leadership pledged its full support for its candidate Kim Tae-woo.
PPP Chairman Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon initially planned to hold a press conference on Oct. 3, but canceled it and attended a labor union meeting with candidate Kim instead.
“This by-election is about whether we will elect a capable worker or opt for a parachute engaged in political conflicts,” the chairman said. “It's a choice between addressing the concerns regarding people’s livelihoods or engaging in political disputes.”
PPP floor leader Rep. Yun Jae-ok and 30 other PPP lawmakers also joined candidate Kim during an Oct. 3 canvassing of the western Seoul district.
“If this election goes wrong, the Yoon Suk Yeol administration will get bogged down by the DPK’s political offensives,” Yun said. “We must win the general election, but for the Yoon administration’s success, we must win this election first.”
To support its candidate, the PPP’s leadership issued guidelines to all of its lawmakers, compelling them to participate in campaigns to support the candidate in their constituencies every day and report back.
The party also provided candidate Kim with a team of highly experienced political figures. Former Unification Minister Rep. Kwon Young-se, former presidential candidate Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo and former lawmaker Na Kyung-won are standing advisers for Kim’s camp, while five-term lawmakers Reps. Chung Woo-taik and Chung Jin-suk are honorary chairs of the election committee.
Candidate Kim was the district mayor until May 18, when the Supreme Court confirmed a suspended prison term on charges of leaking official secrets. A former investigator at the prosecution, he was indicted for revealing official secrets, which he obtained in December 2018 while working for a special inspection team under the senior presidential secretary for civil affairs.
During this process, Kim claimed that the inspection team attempted to disrupt inspections of certain figures and locked horns with then-senior presidential secretary for civil affairs Cho Kuk.
The PPP claims that candidate Kim became “the trigger” for investigations on scandals surrounding Cho, and Kim suffered immensely, as he was convicted due to left-leaning former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Kim Myeong-su, and therefore, the candidate should be given a second chance. He was pardoned and reinstated by President Yoon on Aug. 15.
Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea floor leader Rep. Hong Ihk-pyo, right, speaks during a Supreme Council meeting at the campaign headquarters of Gangseo District leader candidate Jin Gyo-hoon in the southwestern Seoul district, Wednesday. Yonhap
The district is one of the DPK's strongholds in Seoul, and so the party is also going all out to support its candidate Jin Gyo-hoon, a former deputy commissioner general of the National Police Agency.
The DPK held its Supreme Council meeting at Jin’s campaign headquarters in the district, Wednesday, and urged the party to support him.
“This by-election is very important because it will determine whether a retrograding Korea can move forward,” DPK floor leader Rep. Hong Ihk-pyo said. “And this election is not confined to Gangseo District.”
“We should make judgment on the arrogant, self-righteous and incapable Yoon administration through the by-election,” Rep. Jung Chung-rae, a Supreme Council member, said during the meeting.
During the meeting, Hong and other Supreme Council members decided to be the co-chairs of Jin’s election committee to enhance his campaign.
DPK Chairman Rep. Lee Jae-myung, who is receiving treatment after staging a hunger strike for nearly a month, is anticipated to appear with Jin in public in the near future. Lee initially planned to assist Jin's campaign on Saturday, but canceled it citing his health condition.
Instead, the chairman urged the party members' support in a video message released Thursday, saying "the election will be a crucial moment to stop the Yoon administration's tyranny."
The DPK’s leadership selected Jin, a former police officer, as part of its strategy to counter the dominance of prosecutors in the Yoon administration. It also highlights the upstanding nature of Jin when compared with PPP candidate Kim, who was convicted.
A citizen walks past campaign posters of candidates running in Seoul's Gangseo District mayoral by-election at a crossroads in the district, Sunday. Yonhap
The by-election carries extra weight as it is viewed as a proxy conflict between President Yoon, who reinstated PPP candidate Kim, and DPK Chairman Lee, who selected the party's candidate through the party leadership, amid the deepening feud between the rival parties.
The PPP is having difficulty passing bills and President Yoon’s Cabinet nominations as the DPK holds a majority at the Assembly. The DPK has rejected Yoon’s nomination for the new chief justice of the Supreme Court, despite the PPP's support, and the main opposition seeks to pass some controversial bills without getting the ruling party's approval. Against this backdrop, overcoming the DPK in this stronghold will be a central theme for the PPP’s general election campaign in Seoul.
On the other hand, the DPK sees the by-election as a chance for people to make a judgment on the ruling bloc and boost its claim that Yoon and the PPP are “unfairly persecuting” its chairman following a recent court decision to dismiss an arrest warrant for him.
A defeat, however, will likely bring negative repercussions to either party’s leadership.
For the DPK, losing in its stronghold will cast doubt over Lee’s leadership. Though the court rejected the arrest warrant, an Assembly vote on whether to agree to Lee’s arrest showed that the DPK’s anti-Lee faction had some level of influence.
“A defeat will bring greater repercussions to Chairman Lee’s leadership, with growing doubts about whether his leadership will bring us an election victory,” a former DPK lawmaker said.
The PPP also has similar concerns. Though it is not suffering from serious factional infighting, voices are growing that the party leadership is only paying attention to the presidential office, rather than exploring ideas to embrace swing voters in Seoul.
Against that backdrop, former PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok, who was ousted from the party leadership after locking horns with pro-Yoon lawmakers, said during a radio interview with broadcaster KBS on Dec. 2 that “the PPP may opt for an interim leadership headed by Land Minister Won Hee-ryong, if the party loses in the by-election.”