A Seoul Metropolitan Council lawmaker from the People Power Party has disputed claims by former Seongdong District Mayor Jeong Won-oh regarding his administration's response to last December's surprise snowstorm in Seoul.
Jeong had stated that his district achieved results through "independent data analysis and preemptive deployment of snow removal equipment." The lawmaker countered that this "differs from the facts," while Jeong's camp dismissed the criticism as a "negative campaign."
Council member Yoon Young-hee posted on Facebook on the 6th under the title "Is Former District Mayor Jeong Won-oh's Election Strategy 'Lying'?" She wrote: "He promoted himself as running an efficient administration, but beyond packaging and inflating achievements, he has been deceiving citizens with seamless lies."
Yoon took issue with Jeong's statements on a radio broadcast shortly after last December's snowstorm. Jeong had said: "We analyzed data centered on Seongdong District and determined that when snow falls in the Ganghwa Island area, it reaches Seoul one and a half hours later. We spread the first round of de-icing agent at 2 PM."
The remarks drew attention as they suggested Seongdong District had initiated snow removal before Seoul city through independent data analysis and preemptive response.
Yoon called these claims "absurd lies." Regarding Seongdong's supposed independent weather data analysis for predicting snowfall timing, she stated: "That snowfall prediction system is a Seoul city system that has been operated with all autonomous districts since 2008."
Citing Seoul's Smart Snow Removal Management System records, she added: "Seongdong District snow removal vehicles began moving at 4:38 PM, and preventive spreading started at 5:24 PM. The claim that snow removal began at 2 PM is not true."
Yoon demanded an apology from Jeong. "No citizen would want to entrust Seoul to a liar," she wrote. "Please abandon your lying election strategy going forward—it's embarrassing in front of children."
Jeong's camp disputed the claims in a media interview, stating: "Councilwoman Yoon's assertion that our snowstorm response achievements were packaged and deceptive differs from the facts."
A representative for the former district mayor explained: "While it is true that Seoul city has long operated a snowfall prediction system, at the time Seoul city failed to properly operate the system, causing urban chaos, whereas Seongdong District actively utilized the relevant information to respond." The representative argued that emphasizing Seongdong's preemptive response was a fair assessment.
Regarding the snow removal vehicle operation times, the representative criticized: "During the snowstorm, we implemented a comprehensive response including road heating cable activation and advance deployment of snow removal personnel and equipment. They are escalating controversy by isolating GPS records from specific times. The key issue is not whether a system exists, but the administrative capability to make it work properly in the field."