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Kim Ji-ho, a Democratic Party hopeful who has announced his bid for Seongnam mayor in the June 3 local elections, said the Cancun trip controversy surrounding fellow party hopeful Jeong Won-oh is paradoxically benefiting Jeong’s Seoul mayoral campaign and will ultimately aid his bid.
On April 3, Kim appeared on Maeil Shinmun’s YouTube program “Friday Emergency Committee,” recalling that he took the lead defending Lee Jae-myung when Lee faced repeated attacks as Gyeonggi governor. Kim said that in 2021 and 2022, as senior team leader of the task force addressing current issues, he raised questions about the Yangpyeong highway and alleged stock manipulation at Deutsche Motors involving Kim Keon-hee. In light of that experience, he argued, the Cancun allegations that People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jae-seop raised against Jeong will reflect poorly on the lawmaker and do not constitute decisive, disqualifying proof.
Kim added that it is acceptable for Rep. Kim to suggest the trip was recreational or to question whether official documents were altered. But he questioned whether these were unique or original lines of inquiry that only Rep. Kim could raise; others could just as easily have pursued them. He said Rep. Kim clearly intended to imply, “Isn’t there something wrong with Candidate Jeong?” but failed to substantiate that claim. As a result, the debate has shifted away from the substance and toward scrutiny of the people who accompanied Jeong.
He acknowledged that if the female official who accompanied Jeong had engaged in workplace bullying in the past, that would be wrong. However, because she is not a mayoral candidate, the controversy is veering into attacking her rather than focusing on Jeong. Kim urged the release of any evidence that could establish the nature of the relationship between Jeong and the official. He noted that if Rep. Kim was confident enough to hold a press conference at the National Assembly communications office, that suggested he believed he had proof.
Kim pointed out that 11 people in total traveled to Cancun, not just Jeong and the female official, and said the overseas trip allegations have not proceeded as initially framed. He predicted a growing bandwagon effect and observed that, given the recent sharp rise in assessed apartment values, pursuing a policy agenda on housing would have had greater political traction.
He added that if Jeong overcomes the controversy and becomes Seoul mayor, he should more fully attend to Rep. Kim’s grievances after taking office. The Cancun matter, Kim argued, will not unnerve Jeong; if anything, it is consolidating support around him. “From the beginning, Rep. Kim’s Cancun allegations were never particularly persuasive,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kim — who learned two weeks earlier on the Friday Emergency Committee program that the Democratic Party had excluded him from the Seongnam mayoral nomination — won an appeal and has been reinstated to contest the primary. Panelists on the program described the rare reversal as a “comeback icon.”
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