DP nominates Song Young-gil as candidate for Seoul mayor

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DP nominates Song Young-gil as candidate for Seoul mayor

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, left, shakes hands with former Democratic Party (DP) Chairman Song Young-gil at a forum in Seoul last month. The two will face off against each other for the Seoul mayoral post in the June 1 local elections. [NEWS1]

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, left, shakes hands with former Democratic Party (DP) Chairman Song Young-gil at a forum in Seoul last month. The two will face off against each other for the Seoul mayoral post in the June 1 local elections. [NEWS1]

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) nominated former party head Song Young-gil as its candidate for Seoul mayor Friday ahead of the local elections next month.  
 
This puts Song, a five-term lawmaker and former Incheon mayor, up against incumbent Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) in the June 1 elections.
 
Song was named the DP's Seoul mayoral nominee after defeating former lawmaker Kim Jin-ae in a primary race through a public opinion survey held over Thursday and Friday. The DP didn't reveal the number of votes for each contender.  
 
Song said after his nomination, "The election for Seoul mayor is not simply a competition with candidate Oh, but a battle against Yoon Suk-yeol's prosecutors' Republic of Korea to protect the human rights, democracy and property rights of citizens."  
 
He also resigned as a lawmaker on Friday.  
 
His nomination has raised some controversy because he stepped down as DP chairman to take responsibility for the defeat of liberal presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, a former Gyeonggi governor, in the March 9 election.  
 
There was a growing schism in the party between loyalists of Lee and those who are not.  
 
The DP initially ruled out Song and Rep. Park Ju-min, both close to Lee, for consideration as Seoul mayoral candidate on April 19, before the party's emergency committee overturned the decision. This led to the DP deciding to hold a primary race to select its Seoul mayor nominee.
 
Another contender, Park Young-sun, a former minister for SMEs and startups, also dropped out of the DP primary race for Seoul mayor.
 
The party wasn't able to find more candidates to compete in the primary race, which eventually resulted in a two-way race between Song and Kim.
 
Song, a South Jeolla native and human rights lawyer, served as Incheon mayor from 2010 to 2014. He was elected as the DP chairman in May 2021.  
 
Song, whose constituency was in an Incheon district as a lawmaker, moved his address to Songpa District in eastern Seoul in the beginning of April, when he announced his bid as a Seoul mayoral candidate.
 
Oh was mayor of Seoul from 2006 to 2010 and re-elected, but resigned in 2011 over a failed campaign to end free lunches for students.  
 
Oh returned to the Seoul mayoral post after a decade defeating his DP rival Park Young-sun in a by-election in April 2021. The position was left vacant after former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon committed suicide in July 2020 after his former secretary accused him of sexual harassment.
 
If Oh is re-elected, he will become the first person so serve a fourth term as Seoul mayor.
 
Late last month, the DP nominated former Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon, who formed a political alliance with Lee Jae-myung for the presidential election, as its candidate for Gyeonggi governor. The PPP nominated Rep. Kim Eun-hye, a former spokesperson of President-elect Yoon, as its Gyeonggi governor candidate.  
 
These two positions are especially critical in the election to select 17 key metropolitan and gubernatorial posts, which could be the first test for the new Yoon government which takes office on May 10.  
 
 

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]
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