By the Breaking News Team
SUYANG: At a press conference this afternoon, Suyang Mayor Han Ga-yeon has announced her resignation. Bowing her head to the cameras, she took responsibility for the 35 deaths that took place over the course of this weekend’s heat wave, asking for the forgiveness of their families and the nation as a whole. Han was near the end of her ninth year as mayor of Suyang, the largest city in Haesan, and amongst the largest in the IDU.
Han will be replaced by her deputy mayor, Shin Min-seok, who will serve the remainder of her term until this October’s scheduled election. Shin has pledged not to initiate any legislative initiatives and has promised to merely act as a caretaker and only to exercise executive power in case of emergency. Shin has also stated that he will not run in the upcoming election.
The resignation is merely the latest in a long string of scandals that has plagued the Free Democratic Party since the unfurling of the Seollim Bribery Scandal at the end of 2021. The party has been split over the resignation, with some prominent Free Dem leaders like President Kim I-seul and Commonwealth Majority Leader Peter Kang applauding the move, while Chamber of Deputies Opposition Leader Seo Jun-yeong has called the resignation “a display of weakness”.
The resignation has left the race for what many call the third most powerful position in Haesanite politics wide open with just over two months to election day. While parties cannot reveal specifics until the beginning of the campaign period, which starts on September 6, it is expected that the three major coalition parties, the Moderate Party, Liberal Democrats, and New Bargain, all expect to field candidates, along with the Conservative Party and One Haesan from the opposition. It is unclear what the Free Democrats, who have held the mayoralty since 2004, will do in the wake of today’s events, or who they may endorse if they do not run a candidate of their own. The nation, and the world, will be watching carefully as the race unfolds.
