Democratic candidate apologizes for urging kiss on baby during campaign stop

Democratic Party of Korea candidate Woo Hyung-chan, running for Yangcheon-gu district chief in the June 3 local elections, apologized after urging Seoul mayoral candidate Jung Won-o to kiss a baby Jung was holding during a campaign rally. Jung also apologized, saying he felt a sense of responsibility for his running mate's actions.

Video of the incident, which took place Monday at a campaign stop in Mok-dong, Yangcheon-gu, spread online. In the footage, Woo can be heard telling Jung — who was holding a baby belonging to a member of the public — to give the child "a kiss, a kiss."

Im Se-eun, a senior Democratic Party spokesperson standing nearby, moved to stop Woo. When Woo leaned toward the baby, Im shook her head and intervened a second time.

The clip drew criticism, particularly from the People Power Party, which called it an attempt to force a kiss on the child. The PPP also raised a separate incident in which Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rae had asked an elementary school student to call him "oppa" — an informal Korean term for an older brother or male friend — at a campaign rally in Busan's Buk-gap district in support of candidate Ha Jung-woo.

As the backlash intensified, Woo posted an apology on his blog Monday. "There is no excuse for my careless and rash words and actions at the campaign rally at Paris Park in Yangcheon-gu, where I appeared alongside Seoul mayoral candidate Jung Won-o," he wrote.

"I said 'kiss, give a kiss' to a baby I met at the scene," he wrote. He added that he had approached the child through "the one-sided perspective of an adult" while claiming to see things from the child's point of view. "That was my mistake," he said.

He apologized to the baby and the child's parents for "any emotional distress and discomfort caused," and pledged to put the safety and rights of children first in all situations, not only on the campaign trail.

"Once again, I bow my head in apology to the child and family who were hurt, and to the residents of Yangcheon-gu," he added.

Jung Won-o also expressed regret over the incident. Speaking after a campaign rally at Seoul Station on Monday, he said Woo's actions had been unexpected but that the situation had been handled on the spot. "I feel a deep sense of responsibility in ensuring that this kind of incident does not happen again," he said.

Jung Won-o said Oh Se-hoon is no different from 'past forces' Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak

정원오 “오세훈, 과거세력 ‘박근혜·MB’와 다르지 않아”

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