[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] The Democratic Party presidential candidates will listen to local public opinion on the 30th. Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung will visit Daegu as the first stop of his 3-night, 4-day nationwide tour, and former party leader Lee Nak-yeon will hold a regional meeting in Gyeonggi Province while Lee is away. Additionally, ruling party hopefuls such as Assemblyman Kim Du-kwan, who will visit Chungcheong, and Assemblyman Park Yong-jin, who will visit the pre-subscription site for the 3rd new town, plan to step outside the heated TV debates for a while to focus on hearing the voices of the people on the ground.
Candidates for the Democratic Party's presidential primary attended the 20th presidential candidate 'One Team' agreement ceremony held at the central party office in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 28th, pinning badges on each other. From left: Choo Mi-ae, Park Yong-jin, Lee Nak-yeon, Chung Sye-kyun, Kim Du-kwan, and Lee Jae-myung./Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@
On the day, Governor Lee will pay tribute at the '2.28 Democracy Movement Memorial Tower' in Daegu in the morning and visit the former home site of labor activist Jeon Tae-il. He will then hold a press conference in Daegu and move to northern Ulsan to visit the 'Labor History Museum 1987.' The next day, he will assess the progress of the Gadeok New Airport project in Busan and hold a meeting with local small business owners to listen to their voices. After completing his schedule in the TK region, he will visit Jeonju and Daejeon in succession to win over local public opinion.
Former leader Lee Nak-yeon, who toured Chungcheong, Gangwon, Honam, and Yeongnam regions ahead of Governor Lee, will visit Gyeonggi Province, Lee’s stronghold, on the same day. Coinciding with the start of Lee’s nationwide tour, Lee Nak-yeon will hold a meeting on northern Gyeonggi Province issues at the Northern Office of the Gyeonggi Provincial Government in Uijeongbu, drawing attention.
Despite the so-called 'gentlemen’s agreement' of the One Team pact, the two candidates have continued their rivalry. Lee Nak-yeon’s camp criticized Governor Lee again through a statement the previous evening, revisiting Lee’s remarks on 'Yeongnam regional discrimination' made in Andong and the recent controversy over his 'Baekje remarks.' Oh Young-hoon, chief spokesperson for Lee Nak-yeon’s campaign, continued the criticism, saying, "Candidate Lee’s remarks are getting longer and more arbitrary. It’s pitiful to watch," suggesting that the exchanges between the two candidates are likely to continue during their field schedules.
Other trailing candidates also set out to listen to local public opinion on the day. Assemblyman Kim Du-kwan met with Chungnam Province Governor Yang Seung-jo and visited the site of the Chungnam private airport in Seosan. Since Governor Yang was eliminated in the party’s preliminary primary (cutoff), visits from ruling party presidential candidates have been nonstop. Following visits by former leader Lee Nak-yeon and former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, Assemblyman Kim also visited Governor Yang to court votes in the Chungnam region.
Meanwhile, Assemblyman Park Yong-jin visited the Seoul Regional Headquarters of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) in the afternoon with party leader Song Young-gil to review the pre-subscription status of new housing sites in the metropolitan area, including the 3rd new town. Former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun plans to visit the Seoul Natural Kindergarten and hold a meeting related to the state responsibility for early childhood education.
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