The June 3 Seoul mayoral election is being marred by negative campaigning surrounding leading candidates. After allegations emerged over preliminary candidate Jeong Won-o's "Cancún business trip with a female staffer," People Power Party (PPP) contenders have continued their concentrated attacks on Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon.
Rep. Kim Jae-seop of the PPP held a press conference at the National Assembly on May 31 and said, "Candidate Jeong traveled on an overseas business trip to Cancún, Mexico, with a female public servant in 2023." He added, "Out of 14 overseas trips, that was the only one where he was accompanied solely by a female public servant." Kim claimed that on the official travel documents at the time, the female staffer's gender was listed as "male," and that when he requested the documents, the Seongdong District Office submitted them with the staffer's gender redacted.
According to materials disclosed by Kim, Jeong visited Mexico and the United States on a 10-night, 12-day trip from March 1 to 12, 2023. Jeong was accompanied by a female staffer identified as "Ms. A." The stated purpose of the trip was "attendance and presentation at the 2023 International Forum on Participatory Democracy (Mexico)."
Jeong's camp immediately rebutted the allegations, calling them "an unconscionable negative attack that crosses the line of basic human decency." His camp said, "The attendance at the International Forum on Participatory Democracy was in response to an official invitation from Mexico's electoral commission and other bodies." It emphasized the trip was "legitimate official duty carried out together with an 11-member Korean delegation that included former Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Du-gwan and former Gender Equality Minister Lee Jeong-ok."
Regarding the accusation that a female public servant was disguised as male on documents, Jeong's camp said it was "a simple clerical error by the district office." In response to claims that only the gender was redacted when the documents were provided, the camp countered that it is standard practice to redact gender and other information to protect personal privacy when responding to external data requests. Jeong's camp filed a criminal complaint against Rep. Kim on charges of publishing false information under the Public Official Election Act.
Remarks reflecting awareness of the allegations continued at a joint debate held the same day. Candidate Park Ju-min said, "If vetting fails during the primary, the result is defeat in the general election." He added, "If you want a certain victory rather than vague expectations, the already-vetted Park Ju-min is the answer." Candidate Jeon Hyun-hee also stressed, "I am a candidate whom the Yoon Suk-yeol administration investigated thoroughly, yet not a speck of dust was found. You have to be beyond reproach to win. An uncertain candidate won't do."
Meanwhile, within the PPP, concentrated fire was also directed at Mayor Oh, the leading candidate. Candidate Yoon Hee-suk took aim at Oh's Han River Bus policy, saying, "He is scattering citizens' tax money into the river." Candidate Park Su-min criticized the "candidacy registration refusal incident," asking, "Is it a rational judgment for entities that should function as one body to attack each other, like a hand attacking its own torso?"