Park Won-soon is a Korean lawyer. He was elected as Mayor

Mayor of Seoul

The mayor of Seoul is the head of government for Seoul, the capital and largest city of South Korea. The position is traditionally considered one of the most powerful in the country. Many Seoul mayors have gone on to hold ministerial office...

 of Seoul, South Korea

Seoul

Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

 on October 26, 2011. Elected as an independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 candidate with the support of the Democratic Party

Democratic Party (South Korea)

The Democratic Party was a political party of South Korea.Formerly called the Millennium Democratic Party , or Saecheonnyeon Minju-dang , it changed its name to the present form on May 6, 2005.- History :...

 and Democratic Labor Party, Park's victory is seen as a blow in particular to the Grand National Party

Grand National Party

The Grand National Party is a conservative political party in South Korea. Its Korean name, Hannara, has a double meaning as "Great National" and "Korean National." The GNP holds a majority of seats in the 18th Assembly, lasting from 2008 to 2012....

 and the prospective presidential candidacy of Park Geun-hye

Park Geun-hye

Park Geun-hye is a South Korean politician. She is a member of the Korean National Assembly and was the head of the conservative Grand National Party. She is now in her fourth parliamentary term, having first been elected in 1998. Her father was Park Chung-hee, president of South Korea from 1963...

, who had publicly supported Park Won-soon's opponent Na Kyung-won

Na Kyung-won

Na Kyung-won is a South Korean politician and lawyer. She is a member of the conservative Grand National Party. She is one of two candidates of the October 2011 by-election after Oh Se-hoon resigned his position as the Mayor of Seoul...

, and a triumph for the independent Ahn Cheol-Soo

Ahn Cheol-Soo

Ahn Cheol-Soo , is a professor and businessperson in South Korea. He founded AhnLab Inc., an antivirus software company in 1995. Now he is the dean of the Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology at Seoul National University. He is also serving as chairman and Chief Learning Officer of...

, whose support he received. However, the inability of the Democratic Party to present its own candidate, and Park's refusal to join it after he had received its endorsement, has served to present Park as a candidate independent of the interests of both established parties.