Ahead of the General Election, the Emergence of 'Mega Seoul': "For the Election" vs "Unrelated to the Election"

The People Power Party is pushing for the incorporation of Gimpo City into Seoul as a party policy ahead of next year's general election. As the so-called 'Mega Seoul' plan, including Hanam, Seongnam, and Goyang, emerges within the party, opposition parties criticize this move as being 'for election purposes.' In response, the ruling party claims that this is a "task that has been steadily pursued since the past" and denies that it is for election purposes. There are also criticisms that it is illogical for the opposition, which promoted the 'Sejong City capital relocation theory' in past presidential elections, to criticize the 'Mega Seoul theory.'

Hong Cheol-ho, the People Power Party's Gimpo-eul district committee chairman who first proposed the 'incorporation of Gimpo City into Seoul,' said on MBC's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' on the 1st, "Mayor of Gimpo and I have been meticulously studying the Han River Renaissance, including this issue, since the last local election," adding, "We prepared and explained it extensively to the party leadership and sometimes appealed to them, so now this has become a matter of national interest," dismissing the opposition's suspicion that it is 'for election purposes.'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Democratic Party responded to the ruling party's move to bring out the 'Gimpo City Seoul incorporation' card ahead of the general election by saying, "It is sudden. It is a situation that requires careful consideration in administrative districts," showing a typical election-purpose card reaction. However, Chairman Hong emphasized that he had already made related proposals to the party since last year.

He said, "I cannot specify exactly when to the party leadership, but since I was always the deputy head of strategic planning and was within our party, I have been talking about metropolitan area issues to everyone I meet," adding, "There were many parts I considered, including transportation issues, when I was the deputy head of strategic planning." Chairman Hong was appointed as the party's deputy head of strategic planning in March last year but stepped down when the party switched to a non-standing emergency committee system.

Oh Shin-hwan, the People Power Party Innovation Committee member and Seoul Gwangjin-eul district committee chairman, also said on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' "Discussions related to the metropolitan area megacity theory or Mega City Seoul are not something that came up just a day or two ago," and "In Gimpo, there were some discussions with the mayor of Gimpo since I was the deputy mayor of Seoul, and in the case of Chairman Hong in that area, such opinions have existed since he was an incumbent lawmaker."

He added, "In the case of Gimpo, from Seoul's perspective as well, while I was the political deputy mayor, there are various policy aspects that Seoul dreams of, and it has conditions that can create mutual win-win and synergy," and "Especially regarding the Great Han River project promoted by Mayor Oh Se-hoon, if Seoul incorporates Gimpo, it can lay the foundation and basis to expand outward as a global maritime city."

Although the opposition criticizes this as 'for election purposes,' there are also points raised that the opposition previously used the 'Sejong City administrative capital relocation' issue for presidential election purposes. Seong Il-jong, a People Power Party lawmaker, pointed out on YTN's 'News King with Park Ji-hoon,' "Did President Roh Moo-hyun not bring out the Sejong City card?" and "The Democratic Party has no right to say such things."

He said, "The party that brought out the Sejong City card (for election purposes) was our party, so it is inconsistent for them to criticize us for using such a card," adding, "Is it always right when they do it and always wrong when our party does it? That is no different from insulting voters or the citizens of Gimpo."