Seoul mayor follows footsteps of Seongnam mayor

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon on Wednesday officially urged President Park Geun-hye to resign. Sending out an emergency statement, he said, "We can't leave our country to a vegetative president," also urging the opposition parties to join the emergency meeting with candles in hands as he said he would also do that for the public's sake.

In Gwangju in May, Park said he would no longer hide as he pushed ahead with his presidential campaign, but his support rate remains stagnated despite other opposition party members standing out amid the Choi Soon-sil gate. He announced all-out safety measures but screen door accidents in Seoul subway stations fail to subside. He disallowed the use of sprinkler truck and fire hydrant, facing criticism that he isn't defending the exercise of public power. Free college tuitions measures suggested by the Seoul mayor were refused by beneficiaries. Lim Jong-seok, deputy mayor for political affairs, has recently moved to the Moon Jae-in camp, which explains Park's sense of urgency.

Park may have opted to benchmark Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung. Lee has already surpassed Park in presidential candidate support rate and is also threatening to top that of Ahn Cheol-soo, former head of the minor opposition People's Party. Park's financial support measure for youths was also first put forward by Lee. Park declared Wednesday that he would join the candlelight protest, and this also could have been influenced by Lee who had joined the candlelight protest in central Seoul last weekend. The mayor of the capital city of Korea is following the footsteps of the mayor of a smaller city.

Having led various "for free" projects, Lee is campaigning saying that Moon Jae-in mainstream is likely to change and that he will become the center. At the candlelight protest last weekend, Lee criticized that President Park Geun-hye has entrusted a shaman to rule the country, and on Wednesday, he said the president has committed a sin against heaven. While it is easy to criticize the president, the main task of a mayor is to lead city affairs in a stable manner. Regarding this, it is right that politicians who only attempt to raise presence in a national crisis also step down.

허문명논설위원 angelhuh@donga.com