People divided over ruling party's nomination of mayoral candidates
Ruling Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Lee Nak-yon, center, speaks during a Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap
By Jung Da-min
People are divided over the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) recent decision to field candidates for the mayoral posts of the country's two main cities, Seoul and Busan, in next April's by-elections, a survey showed Friday.
The posts have remained vacant following the suicide of Seoul Mayor Park Won-son in July and resignation of Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don in April ― both DPK members accused of sexual harassment. To nominate candidates for the posts, the party has revised its regulations which stated that it will not field a candidate for a by-election that was triggered by a party member resigning over their own wrongdoing. The move was strongly criticized by the opposition bloc for breaking its promise on political interests.
According to a poll of 1,002 adults by Gallup Korea from Tuesday to Thursday, 34 percent of the respondents said the DPK made the right decision, while 39 percent said it was the wrong move.
About 28 percent, almost a third of respondents, suspended their judgment on the matter.
By party supporters, 59 percent of DPK supporters said the regulation revision was proper and 16 percent said it was wrong. Among supporters of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), only 9 percent said it was right and 74 percent, wrong.