-Min Seongcheol! Min Seongcheol!
-Let’s defend Seoul from the pro-North leftists, Min Seongcheol!
-Choe Sangdong! Choe Sangdong!
-Take back stolen Seoul for us, Choe Sangdong!
The day of the legally mandated debate.
From early morning, supporters from both sides flocked to the front of the Yeouido broadcasting station and staged picket demonstrations.
The Seoul mayoral election, which had been expected to be an easy victory, had at last narrowed to a single-digit gap. The 10-percentage-point difference from a week ago had now closed to 8 percentage points, and many experts predicted that this official debate would be the turning point.
At length, when a car pulled in, supporters of the Daehan Party swarmed around it like bees.
Min Seongcheol stepped out of the car to a grand welcome and waved with an easy expression.
-Candidate, please give us a word! Recent polls show that the approval rating gap has been narrowed considerably. Many experts are analyzing that today’s official debate could become a “counterthrow.” What do you think?
Min Seongcheol looked extremely relaxed.
“A counterthrow, is it... Might that not be the hope of certain forces trying to slander me? The ruling party’s smear campaigns and false accusations have narrowed the gap somewhat, but even so, it is still an 8-percentage-point difference. Today’s official debate will not be a stage for a counterthrow, but for ‘sealing the deal.’”
-Are you saying it will be the clincher? Then what is your debate strategy today, Candidate Min?
“The future. Not left or right, but forward. Even as I speak, housing prices in Seoul are soaring through the roof. This is because of the government’s anti-market economic logic, trying to solve everything only through regulations. I will point out this contradictory behavior by the government and normalize Seoul housing prices.”
-May we understand what you just said as expanding supply?
“I’ll speak in more detail during the debate. Then, if you’ll excuse me.”
As Min Seongcheol disappeared, shaking hands with supporters, the next car entered behind him.
Amid the enthusiastic cheers of the Minguk Party supporters, Choe Sangdong stepped out of the car.
-Candidate, please give us a word! Despite the recent optimism that you’ve caught up a great deal, the gap is still around 8 percentage points. How do you see the current state of the race?
“Elections are about momentum. Min Seongcheol’s approval rating, which had been over half until the primary ended, is now hovering in the 40-percent range. I believe that as various truths have come to light, the citizens have been disappointed. By contrast, I began with an approval rating of less than 20 percent and have now closed the gap to 8 percentage points. Today’s official debate will be a thrilling one-on-one ‘counterthrow.’ Please watch.”
-Are you saying it will be the foothold for a reversal? Then what is your debate strategy today, Candidate Choe? Will it be a stage for a thorough verification of morality?
Choe Sangdong hesitated for a moment and looked at his supporters.
Having rolled around in electoral politics for more than ten years, he could tell the atmosphere just by looking at the crowd gathered today. This local election was a midterm election, and the fervor to judge the administration was no small thing.
“...The future.”
He answered.
“Morality is, of course, an important part, but how could we talk about only that throughout the entire official debate? Through today’s debate, I will prove that Candidate Min is absolutely not a smart or rational person. Please watch.”
When Choe Sangdong disappeared with a smile, the reporters stared at one another in wide-eyed surprise.
-What the hell... Weren’t today’s main debate keywords supposed to be Dong Tae-gyun, the gold phone, and the X-file?
-Hah, damn it. I already wrote all my articles!
-What damn future are they talking about? If real estate comes up, the ruling party has no answer.
The reporters hurriedly revised the articles they had written in advance.
As expected, it seemed there was nothing to eat at a much-hyped feast. This first official debate looked likely to end in an easy victory for Candidate Min.
*
-Good evening, viewers. I am Im Chunseong, and I will be moderating today’s official debate.
The gladiators of both sides took the stage with relaxed faces.
The killing intent was no joke. Until the two candidates shook hands, neither took his eyes off the other, and this taut tension was captured by the cameras without any filter.
-Today’s official debate will broadly cover two topics: Seoul’s future plans and real estate plans. In front of me now are both candidates’ pledges regarding GTX route expansion, subway extension lines, tourism development, and so on. Let’s begin with this discussion. Candidate Min, please begin your initiative debate.
“Yes, greetings, citizens. I am Min Seongcheol, candidate for Seoul mayor.”
Emphasizing the incumbent’s advantage from the very start, he lifted the papers he had prepared.
“Over the past twenty years, including the periods I was out of office, I, born in a shantytown, achieved the feat of making our Seoul the 40th-ranked city as a global brand. I have a dream. It is to make Seoul a leading tourist city comparable to New York, Paris, London, Rome, and the like. However.”
Min Seongcheol sharpened his gaze.
“Before discussing that issue, I cannot help but point out our Seoul’s problem with overtourism. To give you the conclusion first, it is an extremely reckless policy. With visa-free entry for Chinese tourists, citizens are already experiencing inconvenience one after another. Drunk driving and public urination are only the basics, and even the recent excrement incident at Gyeongbokgung Palace... I want to ask the ruling party and the government. Did you not know this would happen? Candidate Choe, what do you think about this?”
Choe Sangdong gave a bitter smile.
The controversy over etiquette surrounding Chinese tourists was nothing new. They had a particular aversion to toilets. Unlike China, Korea had stalls, and access to restrooms through public facilities was good, yet they liked fertilizing trees or soil.
It was analyzed that the Chinese authorities’ eco-friendly policy line may have influenced even these small habits.
“Candidate Min. I, too, do not welcome that problem. But if we are to criticize that problem as statesmen, shouldn’t we present an alternative? After COVID, around 10 percent. Self-employed businesses are closing at a faster rate than during the IMF crisis. This year’s statistics surpassed one million for the first time in history.”
“So it was unavoidable again? I’m sick of hearing it. Did the influx of Chinese tourists produce any meaningful boost to domestic demand? Korea’s domestic demand indicators are still a mess.”
“They would have been worse without it. At least until the closure rate of self-employed businesses becomes more gradual, we are not in a position to worry about overtourism.”
“That’s not the issue! The problem is the government’s stance, where it sits by and watches anti-American protests while arresting anti-China protests like public security police. Why on earth is the ruling party so desperate to submit to China?”
“Submit? Watch your words! Don’t trample on our national pride so carelessly just to play partisan camp politics!”
“Then why did people like you make us into pro-Japanese collaborators during the last administration? We took point and led the way in improving Korea-Japan relations, and you turned us into a party of traitors, didn’t you?”
Korea was truly a lonely country.
Given its geopolitical characteristics, balanced diplomacy seemed to be the only way to survive, but because of this, it always suffered from partisan camp logic. If it had been located somewhere like Europe or the Middle East instead of Northeast Asia, it would have felt like a developed country more readily and lived well as the local bully.
After that round of verbal sparring ended, the moderator stepped in.
-Yes... As I speak, Candidate Min’s initiative debate has ended. Next, we will have Candidate Choe’s initiative debate.
Candidate Choe sharpened his eyes.
“I won’t speak at length. Candidate Min, I’ll give you plenty of time, so try explaining this. The Han River water bus—what on earth is this?”
After that came Mayor Min’s lengthy explanation.
“No matter how much I listen, I simply cannot understand what kind of explanation that was. Citizens of Seoul, I promise you. I will get rid of this kind of showpiece administration and become a mayor solely for the citizens of Seoul.”
-Yes... As I speak, Candidate Choe’s initiative debate has ended. Then let us now move on to the next theme.
As the moderator turned the cue sheet, a tension unlike anything before began to hover between the two men.
-Real estate... With the recent controversy over housing prices striking Seoul, many opinions are being voiced. Accordingly, I understand both candidates have much to say. Candidate Min, please proceed with your initiative debate first.
For a moment, the two glared at each other.
In truth, the theme of Part 1 had been only an appetizer. Many experts predicted that, in the end, the real estate issue would be the decisive point of the official debate.
And no wonder, as cries of distress were ringing out all across Seoul.
With housing prices stirring restlessly, citizens were already complaining of PTSD from the real-estate spike, and even the Bank of Korea had warned that Seoul real estate was suppressing Korea’s growth rate.
“Supply.”
After a long pause, Mayor Min opened his mouth.
“The government’s indiscriminate regulations have caused all this chaos. But this is an issue that must be approached not through factional camps, but through market logic. The reason Seoul housing prices have recently been stirring is because supply is falling far short of demand. But what about the government’s measures? Just as during the real-estate spike, they think that if they smash supply, demand will also be smashed, don’t they? But not at all! An anti-market approach ultimately shows its limits. Seoul regulations will in the end become policies for the cash-rich, and they will destroy the housing ladder for our young people. We must immediately abolish regulations and establish supply measures that citizens want! Candidate Choe, answer me.”
Choe Sangdong hesitated for a moment.
The saying not to catch a falling knife is not limited only to the stock market. In politics most of all, if you grab hold of a declining theme, you go broke.
Especially now, when dissatisfaction over Seoul housing prices was rising. If you did not say what the market wanted to hear, what the election result would be was perfectly obvious.
“...That is an economic policy that knows one thing and not the other, isn’t it?”
But Choe Sangdong opened his mouth.
“What did you say?”
“Regulation may not be the cure-all, but supply is not the cure-all either.”
“Candidate Choe, are you denying Adam Smith right now?”
“The end of laissez-faire was the Great Depression, was it not? Candidate Min, you answer me. Even the mighty United States went through the subprime crisis, and China is struggling with the Pengda bankruptcy. Why did those things happen? They opened up supply as the market wanted, so why did that later hold back economic growth?”
Choe Sangdong raised his voice.
“Now let’s look back at this objectively. Was the real-estate spike truly the government’s failure, or was it because of low interest rates? If, at that time, we had built all the apartments the market demanded, what would our real estate have looked like when interest rates rose? The answer is clear. If you mistake speculation for demand, it becomes an economic crisis. Therefore, we must first fix something more fundamental than that: the chronic problems of Korean real estate.”
Choe Sangdong, whose voice had risen to a peak, had dwindled to a creeping murmur by the end.
“...We need to gradually eliminate the jeonse system that deepens real estate leverage, and we need fundamental population dispersal policies such as relocating companies and school districts.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than news appeared on portal sites.
[Breaking News - Official Debate Candidate Choe Sangdong Sparks Controversy: “I Will Turn Seoul into Monthly-Rent Hell”]