Ulsan mayoral race: Democratic-Progressive unification faces crisis over poll dispute

The Ulsan mayoral race is facing a potential collapse of a planned unification between the Democratic Party and the Progressive Party, just four days before early voting begins. The two parties, which had agreed to merge their candidates, are now at an impasse over the methodology of their primary election poll.

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We need to consider the part where citizens supporting the People Power Party participate in the opinion poll and choose a Democratic/Progressive candidate who is favorable to the People Power Party, but the election committee determined that this part was distorted based on various circumstances and intelligence.

The Democratic Party is demanding the inclusion of a 'reverse selection prevention clause' in the opinion poll. They claim to have received intelligence suggesting that supporters of the rival People Power Party might participate in the poll to unfairly boost the Democratic candidate they favor. Kim Sang-wook, the Democratic candidate, stated that his party's election committee determined that the poll results could be distorted based on various circumstances and intelligence.

Conversely, the Progressive Party has vehemently opposed this move, accusing the Democratic Party of unilaterally disrupting the fair election process. Shin Chang-hyun, the Progressive Party's Secretary-General, questioned how the Democrats could know about 'reverse selection' before the poll results were even available. He revealed the agreed-upon poll questions, which did not include such a clause, and criticized the Democrats' actions as a violation of democratic principles. Kim Jong-hoon, the Progressive Party's candidate, expressed deep disappointment, comparing the situation to the oppression under military dictatorship and demanding an apology and clarification from the Democratic candidate regarding the alleged manipulation.

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How could you know that reverse selection was occurring without seeing the poll data that was already in progress? This is a serious violation of the basic principle of fair elections.

While both parties maintain that unification is not entirely off the table, the breakdown in agreement and trust has made its realization uncertain. The Democratic Party believes there is still time and logistical capacity to conduct a revised poll, but the Progressive Party argues that a poll-based unification is now physically impossible unless the Democratic candidate withdraws. They continue to demand an apology and a thorough investigation into the alleged irregularities.

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I have never felt such pain, even when trampled by military boots during the dictatorship. We will wait until today for an apology from candidate Kim and an explanation for the suspicion of interference in the opinion poll.