Woo Sang-ho, a preliminary candidate for the Seoul mayor from the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Democratic Party Seoul mayoral candidate debate held at BBS Buddhist Broadcasting System radio in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 22nd. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] On the 22nd, Park Young-sun and Woo Sang-ho, preliminary candidates running in the Democratic Party of Korea's Seoul mayoral by-election primary, engaged in sharp exchanges over each other's real estate pledges.
Appearing on BBS Radio's 'Park Kyung-soo's Morning Journal' that day, candidate Park criticized Woo's pledge to "create artificial land along Gangbyeonbuk-ro and Olympic-daero to supply public housing," saying, "From an architectural standpoint as well as in terms of aesthetics and the public nature of the view rights, it is severely damaged," she pointed out.
Candidate Park continued, "It takes too much time to construct," and asked, "Have you calculated the construction cost per pyeong (3.3 square meters) for the apartments?"
In response, candidate Woo rebutted, "Although it is 5 million won more expensive than Park's pledge of 10 million won per pyeong apartments, it is much cheaper than the usual cost of acquiring private land, which ranges from 40 to 50 million won, and then building on it."
Meanwhile, Woo also countered by mentioning Park's pledge to supply housing through the undergrounding of the Gyeongbu Expressway. He criticized Park's pledge, saying, "If we look at the precedent where large-scale development plans in Gangnam raised surrounding housing prices, which then led to nationwide housing price increases, this policy does not align with the purpose of stabilizing real estate prices."
He added, "Undergrounding the Gyeongbu Expressway is inevitably a policy that conflicts with the Moon Jae-in administration's real estate policies," expressing concern on this point.
Park Young-sun, a preliminary candidate for the Seoul mayor from the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Democratic Party Seoul mayoral candidate debate held at BBS Buddhist Broadcasting System radio in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 22nd. [Image source=Yonhap News]
The two candidates also showed differences over the target and scale of support for small business owners. Woo pointed out, "Seoul City already provided emergency loan support of 800 billion won in January and 1 trillion won in February, with an interest rate of 1.45%. Since (candidate Park) plans to offer an additional loan of 50 million won interest-free, there could be issues of fairness."
In response, candidate Park said, "By February 25, small business owners' value-added tax filings will be completed, allowing us to see the fluctuations in sales over the past year. (Then) we can identify small business owners whose sales tax has decreased and who are struggling to survive. We can provide interest-free loans to those who qualify. For example, by setting criteria such as a sales decrease of over 50% and providing additional support, targeted assistance becomes possible," she rebutted.
Park Young-sun (right) and Woo Sang-ho (left), preliminary candidates for the Seoul mayoral election from the Democratic Party of Korea, are attending and debating at the Democratic Party Seoul mayoral candidate debate held on the morning of the 22nd at BBS Buddhist Broadcasting System radio in Mapo-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]
The tension between the two candidates continued. When asked about a "respected figure," Woo said, "The person I politically respect is former President Kim Dae-jung, my political mentor," to which Park responded, "If you are in the Democratic Party, it is only natural to follow the philosophies of the three presidents: Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, and Moon Jae-in."
Later, when asked about a "book that changed your life," Park mentioned three books including Beopjeong Sunim's 'Ilgi Ilhoe,' and Woo pointed out, "There is no way a life-changing book can be multiple books," criticizing her answer.
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