Jung Won-oh, the Democratic Party candidate for Seoul mayor, and Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party candidate, have each adopted policy pledges typically associated with the opposing camp — tax cuts and budget expansion — in a bid to win over centrist voters. Jung unveiled a "property tax reduction," a staple of conservative platforms, while Oh announced support measures for small business owners, a core constituency of the progressive camp, as the two sides jockeyed for the political middle ground. Tensions between the camps also escalated over revelations about Jung's past violence conviction.
Jung held a press conference Thursday at the National Assembly with Democratic Party ward head candidates and said he would push for a temporary reduction in this year's property tax increase, which resulted from a rise in officially assessed housing prices. "The reality that retired citizens, whose income has shrunk or stopped, are suddenly facing a heavier property tax burden on homes they have lived in all their lives cannot be taken lightly," he said. "I will ease the property tax burden on the retired generation who protect the one home they have lived in all their lives, not on speculative multi-home owners."
The targets of Jung's proposed property tax reduction are single-home owners in Seoul who are elderly but have no earned or business income. The reduction method under review is to either waive this year's increase in the assessed price from the property tax levied in September or refund it later. However, critics noted a lack of specifics, as Jung said he would "review additional criteria and decide" whether retirees with rental or financial income would be included.
Oh said he would expand policy financing support for small business owners. He plans to raise the total volume of policy loans for small business owners from the current 2.42 trillion won to 3 trillion won, the highest on record. He also said the effective interest rate would be lowered from the current 1.9 to 3.1 percent to 1.7 to 2.9 percent.
Oh also said he would expand the total limit of the "Self-Employed Safe Account," a dedicated overdraft account for self-employed individuals. He pledged to raise the account limit from 400 billion won to 500 billion won and extend the maturity of the Hope Companion Fund. He also plans to set aside a separate 400 billion won support package for vulnerable business operators struggling under the "three highs" — high interest rates, high prices and high exchange rates.
Meanwhile, the two camps clashed over a controversy raised by People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jae-sub regarding Jung's past violence conviction. Citing Yangcheon District Council stenographic records drafted in 1995, Kim said, "Jung explained that his violence conviction stemmed from a dispute over differing views on the May 18 Democratization Movement, but that is not true." He added, "Jung pressured a cafe owner at a drinking gathering to force an overnight stay with a female employee and threatened the owner who refused. He then assaulted the citizen who tried to stop him as well as the police officer who was dispatched."
Jung's camp dismissed the claim as false, citing the court ruling and articles written at the time. "Kim's claim is not true and is merely a one-sided assertion," Jung's camp said. "The court ruling on the case stated that the dispute arose while discussing political matters and escalated into a quarrel as voices grew louder due to differing political factions."
Jung and the Democratic Party signaled plans to file a complaint against Kim. "The Democratic Party plans to file a complaint against Rep. Kim under Article 250 of the Public Official Election Act for publishing false information for the purpose of defeating a candidate," a Jung campaign official said.
