Woo Sang-ho: "Park Won-soon as a Role Model of Innovation, Not Speaking About His Entire Life"

Candidate Park Young-sun's Pledge "Seems Relaxed"

Democratic Party of Korea's Seoul mayoral by-election primary candidate, Assemblyman Woo Sang-ho, is shouting "Youth Fighting" while holding a policy communication meeting with "The Youth" in front of the red Jamman-gyeong at Sinchon U-Plex, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul on the 9th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] Woo Sang-ho, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, recently described former Mayor Park Won-soon as "a role model of innovation" in a Facebook post, explaining that it was "intended to comfort the bereaved family." He also emphasized that he is a candidate "true to the Democratic Party."

On the 15th, Woo appeared on CBS Radio's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show" and said, "I mentioned that I would continue Mayor Park's good policies and supplement those that were lacking or wrong. This is a continuation of that statement." He added, "Mrs. Kang Nan-hee, the bereaved family member, wrote a sorrowful post, and rather than endorsing the entire content, I wrote the post to comfort the bereaved family as someone who helped Park Won-soon three times during his election campaigns."

He also said, "Since declaring my candidacy, I have given over 20 interviews where I expressed respect for the Human Rights Commission's decision and discussed fundamental measures to create a Seoul where sexual crimes do not occur. I also said I would help victims return to normal life," adding that he made these points more than 20 times.

Woo continued, "I said he is not a role model for everything but my role model for innovation. At least, I want to emulate the innovative aspects of his life. I mainly referred to his contributions to democracy, human rights, and the establishment of civic organizations that innovated citizen movements, as well as some innovative policies he implemented as mayor. It was not that his entire life is my role model."

Regarding the victim's expression of suffering, he said, "I empathize with the many wounds and pains the victim endured. I will do my utmost to create fundamental measures to prevent such incidents from happening again in Seoul and to help victims return to normal life." He added, "I hope people do not get too hurt over the fact that I comforted the bereaved family."

He continued, "In fact, I wanted to comfort both the victim and the bereaved family. What fault could the bereaved family of the late Mayor Park Won-soon possibly have?"

Regarding former Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun's "vertical garden" pledge, Woo said, "After COVID-19, the lives of ordinary people in Seoul have become very tough, and many are in desperate situations. Using taxpayers' money to dig underground and build a vertical garden on top where citizens can pick vegetables does not seem like a pledge that truly addresses the urgent needs of ordinary people. It seems somewhat leisurely and not fitting for the Democratic Party. That is what I said."

Woo said, "Being true to the Democratic Party means helping the socially vulnerable and easing the harsh realities of ordinary people. The pledge where middle and upper classes spend time farming during the day, drinking coffee, and picking vegetables is not a pledge for the young people suffering in Seoul's harsh life, the low-income residents living in semi-basements, or small business owners who cannot pay rent day by day."

When asked about the difference between him and former Minister Park, he said, "In terms of life experience, I belong to the generation that participated in the democratization movement and have progressive orientations. I hope our Democratic Party competes with more progressive policies for the socially vulnerable in Seoul."