‘Outside’ GNP Mayoral Rumors Continue

As rumors persist that the Grand National Party (GNP) plans to recruit an outside figure for the Seoul mayoral race, lawmaker Park Gye-dong of the GNP said, “The outside contender will be publicly announced within the coming week.”

Park, who is one of the party’s internal candidates for Seoul mayor, said Sunday at a press conference held in his office in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, “There has been progress in recruiting an outside candidate for the Seoul mayoral race. The outside candidate the party will nominate will be someone whom GNP chairwoman Park Geun-hye, Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak, and Gyeonggi Province Governor Sohn Hak-kyu can all agree on,” meaning that there will have to be a consensus among the GNP’s three major presidential candidates.

He added, “The outside contender should not compete in an internal mayoral race, but should be nominated through a recommendation of the party. When an outside candidate is nominated, I’ll step back and work on the electoral committee.”

Regarding the outside figure, Park said, “It is going to be someone from among the many names that were already mentioned so far.”

The names of the possible outside contenders mentioned so far have been Seoul National University president Chung Un-chan; Korea University president Euh Yoon-dae; Woori Bank chairman Hwang Young-key; and the GNP’s former chief policy maker Park Se-il. The GNP has also courted independent lawmaker Chung Mong-jun as well.

But right after Park’s press conference, GNP chair Park Geun-hye said, “[The announcement] is not only untrue, but also misleading, and could cause confusion within the party. Such a statement is quite regrettable.”

Lawmaker Lee Jae-oh, floor leader of GNP, also strongly denied Park’s statement, saying, “There is no recruitment that the floor leader of the party is not aware of.”

The possible outside candidates are said to have denied the rumors as well.

The party’s internal mayoral candidates, including lawmakers Hong Joon-pyo, Park Jin, and former lawmaker Maeng Hyung-kyu, who resigned his National Assembly membership to run, took offense at Park’s announcement. When Hong ran into Park, he bluntly confronted him, asking if Park was trying to put a damper on his mayoral bid.

GNP officials explained that the reason rumors about recruiting outside candidates are not stopping is because of how desperate the party is to win the Seoul mayoral election on May 31.

“Losing a couple of the posts in the Metropolitan area can have a positive effect on the presidential election next year, but when it comes to the Seoul’s mayoral post, it’s a totally different story,” an official said. Losing Seoul’s mayoral election could lead to backtracking on the restoration of Cheonggyecheon, the greatest achievement of incumbent Seoul mayor Lee Myung-bak, and a reduction in the administrative capacity of the GNP.

If the ruling Uri Party recruits former Justice Minister Kang Keum-sil as its Seoul mayoral candidate, an election victory for a GNP that only offers internal candidates in opposition cannot be guaranteed. Recruiting an outside candidate could also help the party overcome its recent mishaps.

It is worth noting that GNP chairwoman Park and Seoul mayor Lee said in a recent interview, “There is still the possibility that an outside figure will be recruited.”

Jung-Eun Lee lightee@donga.com