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| Staffers from the Seoul branch of the National Election Commission put posters of Seoul mayoral by-election candidates on a fence in Jongno District, central Seoul, March 25. Twelve candidates are running for the race slated for April 7. Yonhap |
By Kim Rahn
Ahead of the April 7 by-election to select a Seoul mayor, the candidates of two major parties ― Park Young-sun of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and Oh Se-hoon of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) ― have been making headlines.
However, there are 10 more candidates from minor and independent parties. For these hopefuls the chance of victory is almost zero and some openly admit it. But they are still running in the mayoral race to advance their individual political careers or to draw public attention to social problems they hope to be addressed.
Huh Kyung-young, head of the National Revolutionary Party who has a history of running in almost all major elections since 1997 including presidential and mayoral ones, has returned. He rose to fame about 10 years ago with his quirky claims of having levitational powers and an IQ of 430 as well as unrealistic pledges to hand out cash to resolve social problems and reduce the number of lawmakers from 300 to 100.
This time, he made it clear that he is running for the mayoral by-election to join the presidential race in 2022, saying that if he becomes Seoul mayor, he would resign later this year to run for president.
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| Huh Kyung-young, head of the National Revolutionary Party / Korea Times file |
Claiming the government is wasting its budget on unnecessary work, Huh says he will cut Seoul City's spending by 70 percent and instead provide 200,000 won to each citizen per month like a basic income. He also said he would not receive a mayoral salary.
Huh, who is relatively well-known among the minor candidates, ranked third following Oh and Park in a poll released by Realmeter on March 24, gaining 1.2 percent of support.
Two young female candidates ― independent Shin Ji-ye, 30, and the Basic Income Party candidate Shin Ji-hye, 33 ― are calling on the public to note why the by-election is being held: because the post became vacant as former Mayor Park Won-soon, a DPK member, committed suicide after sexual harassment allegations were raised against him.
Shin Ji-ye ran in the mayoral election in 2018 as a candidate from the Green Party. At the time she called herself a "feminist candidate" and gained 1.7 percent of the votes, coming in fourth following heavyweights in major parties.
She says neither a member of the DPK, which is to blame for the by-election taking place, nor Oh of the PPP, who was a predecessor of Park Won-soon, is suitable to take the mayoral post again and a third-party candidate should do it.
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| Shin Ji-ye, an independent candidate running in the Seoul mayoral by-election, poses in this June 2018 photo. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
Shin Ji-hye promises to introduce gender-equal work guidelines and conduct an all-out investigation into possible sexual harassment of lower-ranking workers by higher-ranking officials at city-affiliated organizations.
Oh Tae-yang from Mirae Party is advocating for "minority rights." The 45-year-old refused to undergo mandatory military service in 2001 in line with his pacifist conviction, becoming the first person to officially refuse the draft based on such beliefs other than religious reasons. He served a jail term instead.
For his first event on the campaign trail, he visited a mausoleum holding the remains of Byun Hee-soo, a former transgender soldier who was found dead after being forcibly discharged from the military following gender reassignment surgery.
Oh Tae-yang pledges, if he becomes mayor, to reorganize the city government to realize joint governance of 10 sectors each representing socially weak groups such as sexual minorities, youth, women and the disabled.
Lee Soo-bong, head of the Minsaeng Party, admits the chance of his victory is slim, but said it is important to show the people that there are "counterbalances" to the two major parties of the DPK and the PPP.
Song Myeong-suk from the Progressive Party says she wants to deliver the unheard voices of the people in need.
She promises to provide housing to youths, with the city government building new homes on city-owned land and offering them to the young in return for only usage fees with no rent or deposits.
