Ha Jung-woo to Formalize Candidacy Tomorrow... Opposition Says Cheong Wa Dae Is a "Resume-Building Place"

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\r\n[The Financial News] Ha Jung-woo, Senior Presidential Secretary for AI Future Planning at Cheong Wa Dae, submitted his resignation on the 28th, and the Democratic Party of Korea is set to hold a talent recruitment ceremony. This is paving the way for Ha's official entry into the by-election for the Busan Buk-gu-gap constituency.
According to political sources, Ha tendered his resignation along with spokesperson Jeon Eun-soo to run in the by-election. After a talent recruitment ceremony for Ha and Jeon on the 29th, the Democratic Party plans to finalize its strategic nominations for Busan Buk-gu-gap and Asan Eul in South Chungcheong Province, respectively.
The by-election in Busan Buk-gu-gap will be held because Democratic Party lawmaker Jeon Jae-soo is running for Busan mayor, while the race in Asan Eul in South Chungcheong Province was triggered by Chief of Staff to the President of the Republic of Korea Kang Hoon-sik stepping down from his parliamentary seat. Former Cheong Wa Dae officials are stepping in to defend constituencies the party had secured. Jung Cheong-rae, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, strongly encouraged both figures to run. Lee Jae Myung had once publicly tried to dissuade them from entering the race, but they ultimately decided to proceed after persuasion from the party.
Han Dong-hoon, the former People Power Party leader who is running as an independent candidate in Busan Buk-gu-gap, immediately criticized the move.
In a commentary that day, People Power Party chief spokesperson Choi Bo-yoon said, "A key figure who claimed to be at the heart of South Korea's AI competitiveness abandoned state affairs and jumped into the election field just 10 months after being appointed," adding, "Is Cheong Wa Dae a training center for election-related resume building?"
Park Chung-kwon, the party's senior floor spokesperson, also said, "They kept stressing the golden time of three to five years for the nation's future, yet we strongly condemn this irresponsible act of throwing away the post after just 10 months," and added, "The fact that the AI command post experience amounted to nothing more than a 10-month election resume is a deception of the industry and future generations."
Former MPVA Minister Park Min-shik, who has declared his intention to run in the Busan Buk-gu-gap by-election, wrote on social media, "Ha Jung-woo, the unprecedented 'national betrayer,' abandoned state affairs the moment he got a chance to wear a National Assembly badge," and added, "Look at that light-minded behavior, switching sides in an instant and choosing the path to promotion even when the president tried to stop him."
Han Dong-hoon also wrote on social media, "Ha said he would run only if President Lee told him to run, so the fact that he is running means President Lee must have given the order," and argued, "Then this is President Lee's illegal intervention in the election."
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uknow@fnnews.com Kim Yun-ho Reporter