Ex-ruling party lawmaker announces bid for Seoul mayor

A former two-term lawmaker of the ruling Saenuri Party announced her bid Tuesday to run for mayor of Seoul, saying she wants to turn the capital into a city that has a lot to offer.

Lee Hye-hoon, 49, is one of three ruling camp figures seen as having a strong chance at winning their party’s nomination to run for Seoul mayor in the June 4 local elections for mayors, governors, council members and education superintendents.

She served two terms as a lawmaker for Seoul’s Seocho Ward from 2004-2012 and currently sits on the ruling party’s Supreme Council.

“I am officially declaring my bid (for Seoul mayor) in order to solve the question, ‘Can’t we make a Seoul that offers much to live for?’” Lee said in her announcement at a museum in Seoul. “In the end, it’s the economy. Only if the economy is resolved can housing, welfare, culture and everything else be resolved.”

Lee majored in economics at Seoul National University and earned a doctorate in the same subject at UCLA. She also worked as a researcher at the state-run think tank, the Korea Development Institute.

“The economy can’t be solved by anyone but only by someone well-versed in it,” she said.

Aside from Lee, the other two ruling party favorites for Seoul mayor are seven-term lawmaker Chung Mong-joon and former Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik. (Yonhap)