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.
Mayor of liberal stronghold Gwangju in dilemma over Yoon's town hall meeting
Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jung delivers his speech during a ceremony to commemorate the 105th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement at Gwangju City Hall, March 1. Courtesy of Gwangju city government
By Nam Hyun-woo
The mayor of Gwangju is in a dilemma over President Yoon Suk Yeol’s town hall meeting in the city, as the liberal mayor’s previous requests for Yoon to hold the event in Gwangju are being used by the presidential office as a rationale to undermine the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea’s (DPK) criticisms of the president.
The mayor said he will boycott the event if the event is held jointly with South Jeolla Province, which surrounds the city, but questions of his intentions are arising due to his dithering on the issue.
Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jung told reporters Monday that he will not attend Yoon’s town hall meeting, if the president insists on “Gwangju and South Jeolla Province jointly holding the event” because “the pending issues in the two regions are completely different.”
Throughout this year, Yoon has been holding town hall meetings across the country, as part of his efforts to pay greater attention to regional issues. So far, the conservative president has held 19 town hall meetings in major cities and regions, but he has yet to hold one in Gwangju and the surrounding Jeolla Provinces. The city of Gwangju and the Jeolla Provinces are strongholds of liberal blocs.
“There was no case of two regions jointly holding a town hall meeting,” Kang said. “This is unfair compared to other town hall meetings and not the way that Gwangju citizens want things to be done.”
Kang, a member of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), previously requested Yoon to hold a town hall meeting in Gwangju, despite the DPK’s criticism that the town hall meetings are populist measures used to win over voters before the April 10 general elections.
On Feb. 13, the mayor said the president needs to be informed about pending issues in the city such as setting up an artificial intelligence industrial complex. He said that “passing over Gwangju can be seen as the president influencing the general elections.”
The presidential office also used Kang’s requests to refute the DPK’s criticism. An official at the presidential office said Monday that “the Gwangju mayor’s requests show that the town hall meetings are not an election campaign,” adding that “we are considering a town hall meeting in South Jeolla Province.”
It remains uncertain when and where Yoon will hold the town hall meeting for the region, but Naju in South Jeolla Province is rumored to be the next stop for Yoon.
Against the backdrop, the ruling People Power Party’s Gwangju chapter issued a statement criticizing Kang for “using Gwangju as a political tool.”
“Kang’s boycott contrasts to South Jeolla Province Governor Kim Yung-rok, who seeks to use the town hall meeting as an opportunity for developments in the province,” the statement reads. Governor Kim is also a DPK member.
A South Jeolla Province official told Newsis, a Korean news agency, that the provincial government has no comment regarding the Gwangju mayor’s move, but added that the provincial government will participate in the event whether it is held jointly or separately.