Ha Tae-kyung Declares Candidacy for Choi Jae-hyung's By-election District
"Thought I Was Ahead of Han Dong-hoon and Won Hee-ryong, So I Rushed"
Former People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Hee-sook evaluated Ha Tae-kyung's declaration to run in a difficult district by saying, "There is currently an incumbent (People Power Party) lawmaker there," and added, "You rushed too much." Ha Tae-kyung, a three-term lawmaker, attracted attention by announcing that he would run in a difficult district such as Seoul instead of his own constituency, Busan Haeundae-gap, in next year's general election.
On the 27th, Ha declared his intention to run in Jongno, which is the constituency of People Power Party lawmaker Choi Jae-hyung. Choi, who served as the Auditor General during the Moon Jae-in administration, is a first-term lawmaker elected in the Jongno by-election held alongside the presidential election in March last year.
Regarding Ha's declaration to run in Jongno, former lawmaker Yoon said on SBS Radio on the 28th, "He insists it is a difficult district. (From the ruling party's perspective, Jongno is) not a guaranteed win, and it is not a place where anyone can be sent, so there is room to insist that way."
However, Yoon pointed out, "Anyway, there is an incumbent lawmaker. Not just any incumbent, but a 0.5-term. Choi Jae-hyung went to campaign for support early last year," and added, "It is a very sensitive issue and ambiguous judgment to say to a 0.5-term lawmaker who has been in office for less than two years, 'Step aside, I have to do it because you probably won't win.'"
She said, "Whether a place like Jongno will be declared a strategic district or not is still very uncertain and ambiguous," and added, "If it is not a strategic district, it is natural for a 0.5-term incumbent to run, but (Ha) announced it very hastily yesterday as if he was being chased."
Yoon speculated that the reason Ha declared his candidacy in Jongno might be because "he thought groups like Han Dong-hoon and Won Hee-ryong were moving too fast."
Meanwhile, Ha appeared on MBC Radio that day and responded to criticisms that "Jongno is not a difficult district" by saying, "Recently, there were rumors about Won Hee-ryong and Han Dong-hoon running, and at that time, there was no disagreement within the party that Jongno was a difficult district."
He argued, "When there were rumors about Won Hee-ryong and Han Dong-hoon running, Jongno was a difficult district, so if Ha Tae-kyung runs, does that mean it is not a difficult district? That is a strange logic."
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