Jung Won-oh, the Democratic Party of Korea's candidate for Seoul mayor, has suspended all public engagements including campaign stumping to focus on responding to the collapse of the Seosomun overpass.
According to Jung's campaign on Sunday, the candidate cancelled all campaign activities, including a planned visit to Dongdaemun-gu, both on Saturday afternoon and Sunday. The campaign's daily morning briefing was also called off Sunday.
Jung plans to review the Seosomun accident along with broader safety issues across Seoul on Sunday, and will visit memorial altars to mourn the victims and console bereaved families once they are set up.
Jung is scheduled to resume his schedule on Monday, though his campaigning style is expected to take a relatively quiet tone.
Since the decision to demolish the Seosomun overpass was made during Mayor Oh Se-hoon's term, the situation is not unfavorable to Jung. However, analysts note that pushing the major accident, which resulted in casualties, into a political flashpoint could trigger a backlash.
In fact, Jung is reported to have instructed his camp not to hastily define the incident or use it as a tool for the campaign or to attack rival candidates while the cause of the accident has yet to be determined and recovery efforts are still underway.
A similar mood is being detected within the Democratic Party. Cho Seung-rae, the party's general election campaign chief, stressed on SBS Radio on Sunday that "what comes first now is to clean up the accident and to thoroughly prepare against risks such as further collapse."
Still, the question of "Oh Se-hoon's responsibility" is likely to surface after several days. The view holds that Mayor Oh pushed major construction projects to align with his own political schedule, leading to the so-called rebar omission incident and the Seosomun accident. Safety issues are also likely to emerge as a core agenda at the Seoul mayoral candidates' televised debate scheduled for Monday.
