"Not Even a Cuckoo, But at Least a Lark" - A Poem Posted by Park Young-sun Contemplating Seoul Mayoral Candidacy

Minister Park Young-sun of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is wiping away tears while listening to the execution status of the 'Small Business Support Fund' at Dokkaebi Market in Gongneung-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul on the 14th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] Park Young-sun, Minister of SMEs and Startups, who is reportedly considering running for the Seoul mayoral by-election, shared a poem on SNS on the 15th. With Park's decision to run imminent, it appears she indirectly revealed her complex feelings.

On that day, Park posted the poem "When a Cuckoo Awakens the Mountain" by poet Kim Wan-ha on Facebook and Twitter, saying, "Reading this poem made me think a lot. The cuckoo is truly pitiful and hardworking. It puts its whole heart into raising the fallen and crumbled mountain."

She continued, "The president who works day and night to lift the country out of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the restaurant owners and small business owners who have fallen and collapsed, the true citizens who comfort and support each other, sacrificing and enduring, and the truly grateful citizens who serve as each other's comfort and support?all of them seem like cuckoos reviving and healing the mountain that has been weakened and fallen due to COVID-19," she wrote.

Photo by Park Young-sun, captured from the Facebook page of the Minister of SMEs and Startups.

At the end, Park wrote, "Even if I am not a cuckoo, I should at least be a small skylark somewhere," adding, "I feel ashamed when I think of the small business owners I met yesterday at the Gureung-dong Dokkaebi Market."

The day before, Park visited the Gureung-dong Dokkaebi Market and shed tears while listening to stories about overdue rent while discussing support funds for small business owners. She also posted a photo of a newspaper clipping covering this part.

This led to interpretations that Park was either revealing her decision not to run for Seoul mayor or, conversely, signaling her candidacy.

There is analysis that Park, considered a leading candidate for the ruling party in the Seoul mayoral by-election, is engaging in political moves to highlight her 'common people's image,' and interpretations that she mentioned President Moon to secure support from the pro-Moon faction.

In particular, Park's expression on SNS, "Even if I am not a cuckoo, I should at least be a skylark," was read as a hint of her imminent declaration to run for Seoul mayor and her future actions.

Meanwhile, in a radio interview on the 13th, when asked about her candidacy, Park said, "I hope we can stop talking about that for a while." Meanwhile, there is speculation that former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Kim Dong-yeon will run in the primary under the Democratic Party banner.

Democratic Party lawmaker Woo Won-shik said on the 14th on the radio regarding Kim Dong-yeon's Seoul mayoral candidacy rumors, "I have met him since I was the floor leader. He is a very capable person, and I heard he said, 'If there is no alternative, I will consider it.'"

In response, the Democratic Party dismissed it as "a fictional story." Chief spokesperson Choi In-ho said after the Supreme Council meeting that day, "There was a statement that the idea that Minister Park would not run and former Deputy Prime Minister Kim would run is a 'fictional story.'"