Mayoral race becomes mud-slinging match

Major candidates tout policy blueprints on welfare, environment, child care


Parties stepped up their mud-slinging attacks against rival mayoral candidates Wednesday, a day before official by-election campaigning began.

The ruling Grand National Party continued questioning the qualifications of the liberal bloc’s independent candidate Park Won-soon while the main opposition Democratic Party mostly targeted controversies over President Lee Myung-bak’s properties.

“Park claimed, concerning the Cheonan sinking, that the Lee administration provoked North Korea to mount attacks on the South Korean corvette. His claim alleviates the North Korean responsibility for the incident,” said GNP chairman Rep. Hong Joon-pyo on Wednesday.

“He may not properly perform his role as mayor, should this be his perspective on national security and inter-Korean relations.”

The party also slammed the Park camp with accusations that the civic activist forged his academic history in his books and reduced his military service period through a false family registration.

The party’s floor leader Rep. Hwang Woo-yea urged the DP to withdraw its support for civic group candidate Park, referring to their alliance as an obstacle to the development of party politics.

The liberal bloc aimed counterblows against the Lee government and the ruling party itself.

“Cheong Wa Dae’s measures over Lee’s retirement house were out of place,” said Rep. Chung Sye-kyun in the party’s Supreme Council meeting.

“The presidential office should step out and persuade the people over the controversy.”

(Yonhap News)

Rep. Kim Jin-pyo, floor leader of the DP, also censured ruling party lawmakers for stepping over the line in their attacks on Park during the parliamentary interpellation on Tuesday.

Park’s group, however, also started to bring up ethical charges against the GNP candidate Na Kyung-won.

“Na, during the general election campaign period in 2004, bought a building in northeastern Seoul. She earned a 1.3 billion won profit from the transaction,” said the spokesperson of Park’s camp.

“She also opposed the passage of the private school bill during the last parliamentary term, in order to take side with her father who owns a school foundation.”

While both camps sought to highlight each other’s weaknesses, the two leading candidates promoted their welfare policy blueprints for the city.

“I will rid the city of its top five pollution factors ― garbage, noise, bad smells, obscene advertisements and outdoor smoking,” said Na.

“The prior task for Seoul’s mayor is to think and see from the citizens’ perspective and realize what actually matters in their life.”

Park visited a public child care facility in eastern Seoul and pledged to increase the number of state-run child care centers in the city.

“Child care support is one of the top priority sectors in which the people’s taxes should be allocated,” he said.

He also promised to improve the working conditions of teachers working in public centers.

(tellme@heraldcorp.com)