Park Young-sun Warms Up First... Accelerating Even in Unification

Confirmed for the Finals and Paying Respects at the National Cemetery
Visiting the Central Medical Center for Vaccine Inoculation

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] Park Young-sun, former Minister of SMEs and Startups, who was confirmed as the Democratic Party candidate for the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election, began her full-fledged campaign on the second day after her confirmation, April 2. Her strategy is to promote her policy of the "21-minute city" and compete against opposition candidates.

Park Young-sun, the Democratic Party of Korea's candidate for Seoul mayor, is writing in the guestbook after paying respects at the Memorial Tower at the National Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, on the 2nd. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On the morning of the same day, former Minister Park visited the National Cemetery in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, to pay respects and wrote in the guestbook, "To always listen to the voices of Seoul citizens, to maintain a humble attitude, and to honor the patriots who sacrificed for the country's development, I start my first schedule at the National Cemetery." After paying respects at the cemetery, she visited the National Medical Center, a COVID-19 vaccination site.

As the Democratic Party candidate officially prepares for the general election, the ruling party's unification process is also expected to accelerate. The Democratic Party has begun unification talks with the Open Democratic Party and Transition Korea. Shin Young-dae, spokesperson for the Democratic Party, stated in a briefing that "Transition Korea has decided to unify candidates with the Democratic Party." The two parties plan to hold debates and conduct policy preference surveys on candidate pledges before selecting a unified candidate.

In addition, Kim Jin-ae, the Open Democratic Party candidate, held a press conference on the same day and announced her intention to resign from her parliamentary seat to run for Seoul mayor. Kim said, "I ask the Democratic Party to demonstrate leadership to agree on a fair unification plan so that my decision to resign as a member of the National Assembly will not be in vain." This is interpreted as her intention to postpone the decision beyond the resignation deadline of April 8.