NA PLEDGE SUPPORT FOR NEWLY WEDS

[Anchor Lead]

The Seoul mayoral race is heating up, as candidates are making all-out efforts to gain the upper hand. Na Kyung-won, one of candidates from the main opposition People Power Party, has announced a campaign pledge to provide financial assistance of 100 million won to newly weds, inviting a barrage of criticism from her rivals.

[Pkg]

Mayoral hopefuls of the People Power Party gathered together to draw lots to select their candidate numbers. Things got heated between two front-runners.

[Soundbite] Oh Se-hoon(Former Seoul mayor) : "The defeat in the last parliamentary elections was the result of the party leadership by Hwang Kyo-ahn and Na Kyung-won."

[Soundbite] Na Kyung-won(Former PPP lawmaker) : "I feel I'm becoming a target because I'm the front-runner."

After a preliminary race was over, the candidates intensified criticism against their rivals’ campaign pledges. Na Kyung-won became the first main target. Her rivals were quick to criticize her promise to exempt couples from over 100 million won in mortgage interests if they get married and give birth in Seoul. Oh Shin-hwan, a former PPP lawmaker, said that even an approximate calculation shows her promise would require five trillion won. He urged Na to avoid making unrealistic, preposterous campaign pledges. Woo Sang-ho, a candidate from the ruling Democratic Party, condemned Na for attempting to curry favor with voters and win the April by-election. Park Young-sun, former minister and another mayoral hopeful of the ruling party, said money cannot be a solution.

[Soundbite] Park Young-sun(Former SMEs Minister (During interview with CBS Radio)) : "I don’t think people will be willing to have babies only because they receive money from the city. I learned that the people don't like the government giving lavish grants."

Na dismissed the criticism, saying her promise would only need one percent of the Seoul city government’s budget. With the parties’ mayoral candidate nomination approaching, hopefuls are expected to heighten their offensive against each other in and out of their own party. Discussions are taking place to field a single candidate both in the ruling and opposition camps. The DP's Woo Sang-ho and Chung Bong-joo from the minor Open Democratic Party agreed on merging the two parties and nominating a single candidate. Peoples Party chairman Ahn Cheol-soo is also in discussions with former lawmaker Geum Tae-seop.