Why Did Jeong Cheong-rae, Who Called Lee Jun-seok "Foolish" During the Overnight Campaign, Suddenly 'Delete and Run'?

Candidate Jeong Criticizes "Overnight Campaigning as Foolish Act"
Candidate Gong Young-woon Deletes SNS After Joining Overnight Campaigning

Ahead of the April 10 general election, Lee Jun-seok, the candidate from the Reform New Party for Hwaseong in Gyeonggi Province, announced that he would embark on a '48-hour overnight campaign.' In response, Jeong Cheong-rae, the Democratic Party candidate for Mapo-eul in Seoul, mocked him, calling it "a foolish act that publicly admits defeat." However, when Gong Young-woon, the Democratic candidate competing in the same district as Lee, also announced he would conduct an 'overnight campaign,' Jeong quickly deleted his post.

Jung Cheong-rae, Democratic Party of Korea candidate for Mapo-eul, Seoul [Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 8th, Jeong posted on his Facebook mentioning Lee's '48-hour continuous overnight campaign,' writing, "You should never do this at the end of an election." He added, "It's a foolish form of self-abuse that publicly admits you are losing," and sarcastically said, "Looks like I was wrong again this time."

Earlier that day, Lee posted on his social networking service (SNS), stating, "Starting at midnight today, I will conduct a 48-hour overnight campaign," and added, "I will go out riding a bicycle." Following Lee's announcement, Gong also posted on his Facebook, saying, "I will conduct a 48-hour overnight campaign until midnight tomorrow when the election campaign ends," and "Tonight at 7:30 PM, we will hold a campaign event with Jeong Cheong-rae, the senior supreme council member of our party."

Regarding Jeong's criticism of Lee, Noh Ye-seul, the citizen communication director of Lee Jun-seok's campaign, said that day, "Jeong Cheong-rae, who tried to criticize Lee Jun-seok without reason, ended up declaring Gong Young-woon's defeat," and added, "We ask for continued active support for the Reform New Party and candidate Lee." Lee Ki-in, the Reform New Party proportional representation candidate, also sharpened his words on his SNS, calling Jeong "the dark campaign chairman of the Reform New Party" and "Jeong Cheong-rae's foolish self-abuse of his own side."

Meanwhile, Hwaseong in Gyeonggi Province is a three-way race among Lee Jun-seok, Gong Young-woon, a former president of Hyundai Motor Company and Democratic Party candidate, and Han Jeong-min, a former Samsung Electronics researcher.