A close aide to Park Geun-hye, the presidential candidate of the ruling Saenuri Party, died on Sunday in a car accident on the campaign trail in the eastern city of Hongcheon, with five others being injured, police said.
According to the Hongcheon Police Agency, a van carrying six campaign team members skidded on the street and rammed into a telephone poll on a national highway in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, some 102 kilometers east of Seoul, around noon.The accident killed the 47-year-old aide Lee Chun-sang, and injured five others, the police said, adding Kim Woo-dong, who is in charge of Park's public relations, still remains unconscious.
"They were driving fast following the car in which Park was riding," Park's camp official Park Jong-hee said. "Lee was confirmed dead, and the remaining five were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment."
Police said an investigation is underway to find the exact cause of the accident.
Upon listening to the news, the candidate canceled her planned schedule and rushed to the hospital, according to officials.
"I am so sorry. I have no words to offer you," a tearful Park told Lee's widowed wife after paying her respect to the aide of 15 years at his funeral hall. The wife told Park that she wishes her the best.
Her campaign team left a Twitter message saying that the party will make sure to be victorious (in the election) for the spirit of the departed, and Park retweeted the message with her personal Twitter account.
Meanwhile, Rep. Lee Jae-oh of the ruling party declared his support for Park and vowed to play a role in her victory.
"Sparing no efforts to create the next government is our calling of the time," Lee said, issuing a statement earlier in the day. "I will do my best to use all my power for Park."
The former floor leader is one of Park's most vehement critics, having blasted her in the past over the way she ran the party. So Lee's support is expected to help the party strengthen its internal solidarity, according to experts.
Opposition candidate Moon Jae-in also earned renewed support from Rep. Sim Sang-jung of the Progressive Justice Party on Sunday. Last week, she withdrew her bid and endorsed Park for the December election.
Issuing a joint declaration "to achieve a regime change and create new politics," Moon and Sim made a set of pledges, including measures for the political reform, the normalization of the inter-Korean relations and a review of the country's four-river refurbishment projects.
"We have to achieve a paradigm shift to break with the old politics and development-oriented dictatorship," the two politicians said in a statement, vowing continued cooperation to "open a new chapter of the country well beyond achieving victory in the presidential election." (Yonhap)