Son Su-ju of the ruling Saenuri Party has been caught in a controversy over her pledge for a low-budget campaign for a parliamentary seat in Busan.

The youngest Saenuri candidate said last week that she was withdrawing a pledge to limit campaign spending to 30 million won ($26,000), about one-sixth of the amount legally allowed.

Using a catchphrase “nailing the election with 30 million won,” which she said was the jeonse deposit for her home in Seoul, the 27-year-old Son had grabbed the attention of Saenuri leaders, media and the public as someone who could liven up established politics.

“I started this with a commitment to a clean campaign with just 30 million won in funds, but I have reached a situation where I can no longer continue my bid financially after I pay for the election deposit (worth 15 million won),” she said Thursday after registering her candidacy with the National Election Commission.

She is seeking to defeat Moon Jae-in, the liberals’ presidential frontrunner, in Busan’s Sasang constituency.

“Thankfully, I have about 80 million won in donations from 450 supporters,” she said, making clear her intention to tap into that money.

Critics say the candidate scrapped her key pledge after playing it up to draw voters’ attention. They also claimed that Son lied about the source of the 30 million won, saying that the candidate has not ended the rent contract yet so the money could not have been the key money deposit returned from the landlord.

Son explained that her parents provided her with the 30 million won because her jeonse contract has been extended because the landlord has failed to find a new tenant.

Jeonse is a Korean housing rental system in which a tenant makes a lump-sum deposit at the start of a contract and gets its back at the end. Landlords often return the deposit to an old tenant after they secure a new tenant.

The election watchdog ruled Sunday that Son’s withdrawal of the pledge or the misguided information about the source of money is not tantamount to a breach of rules.

However, this is not the first time that Son has been accused of rule-breaking.

Earlier this month, she showed up with a group of volunteers at a cultural event for residents and canvassed voters there.

The election watchdog issued a warning over the violation of a rule banning mobilization of volunteers before the official campaign period.

Son’s critics also take issue with her open-top car ride with Saenuri chairwoman Park Geun-hye on March 18. Son and Park waved to the crowd as they were driven for about 500 meters along a street in the city.

Candidates are allowed to campaign only on a limited scale before a full-fledged campaign starts on March 29. Use of vehicle is banned. 


By Lee Sun-young
(milaya@heraldcorp.com)