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| Lee Jae-myung |
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| Kim Boo-seon |
One big campaign issue is the alleged affair between Lee Jae-myung, a leading candidate for the Gyeonggi gubernatorial election, and actress Kim Bu-seon. Lee of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), who successfully fulfilled reformist policies as former mayor of Seongnam, has overwhelmingly led the election race with almost 50 percent of support.
Kim's television appearance on Sunday, however, may hamper his chances. "When I first met Lee, I thought he was already divorced. After being with me for one night, he told me he had a wife," Kim said in an interview with KBS.
The actress said they dated for two years from 2007. "When I broke up with Lee, the former human rights lawyer blackmailed me saying he could make his friends put me in jail over smoking marijuana, because he has many friends in the prosecution," she said.
Kim first raised the issue in a separate interview in 2010. However, she later withdrew her remarks. Regarding the flip-flopping, she said Lee's supporters discouraged her from blaming the promising liberal politician.
Lee refuted the controversy in a press release, Monday. He claimed he was framed by "old evils" that are afraid of his reformist policies.
The largest conservative Liberty Korea Party (LKP) is in hot water over a lawmaker's slip of the tongue. In a radio interview, June 7, Rep. Choung Tae-ok, former spokesman of the LKP, said: "Seoul residents who were well off in the western area of the city often move to Bucheon after a divorce, and move again to Incheon when they become poorer."
The remark annoyed those who live in Bucheon and Incheon ― two densely populated satellite cities near Seoul. In an effort to prevent further controversy, Rep. Choung promptly broke away from the LKP, late Tuesday, and the party immediately accepted his departure.
The mishap is likely to weigh on the party, which has remained sluggish for almost two years following the massive corruption scandal involving former President Park Geun-hye. Particularly, the stir overshadowed LKP's Gyeonggi governor candidate Nam Kyung-pil, with about 20 percent of the popularity far behind rival candidate Lee.
The DPK and the Justice Party are preparing for legal actions against the conservative lawmaker. DPK Chairwoman Choo Mi-ae urged Choung to resign from his Assembly seat, while Justice Party candidates running for local councilor posts in the areas said they will lodge a compensation claim against Choung.
Amid the widely expected victory of DPK's Seoul mayor candidate Park Won-soon, two conservative candidates ― Kim Moon-soo of the LKP and Ahn Cheol-soo of the Bareunmirae Party ― are calling on each other to drop out of the race.
Whoever takes third place will be likely to lose face within the party, which will bring political realignment. The LKP and the Bareunmirae Party are vying for the initiative in an envisioned merger of the two parties.
While the overwhelming victory of the ruling DPK is expected ― not only in mayoral and gubernatorial elections but also the 12 by-elections for Assembly seats ― the conservatives see a growing need to seek a merger. The outcome of the mayoral election could become a watershed in political realignments.
