"'Hwaibudong' Spirit... Candidate Unification is the Path to the Greater Good"
Daegu Citizen Poll 50% · Responsible Party Member Vote 50% Method Proposed
"If No Unreasonable Claims, Not Difficult... Expecting Response from Yu Young-ha"
[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Hyun-ji] Kim Jae-won, former Supreme Council member of the People Power Party who declared his candidacy for Daegu mayor, proposed candidate unification to his primary rival, lawyer Yoo Young-ha, on the 16th.
On the same day, Kim posted on Facebook titled "I propose candidate unification to candidate Yoo Young-ha," stating, "At this desperate and chaotic time when many Daegu citizens are worried about the mayoral election, I believe that requesting candidate unification with a 'hwaibudong' mindset is the way to achieve the greater good." Hwaibudong is a four-character idiom meaning to associate with others while maintaining one's own principles. Kim had previously maintained that unification was unnecessary due to differing candidacy backgrounds and goals from Yoo, but after struggling in recent polls, he appears to have changed his stance ahead of the final candidate decision.
In a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 17th, Kim explained the purpose of his unification proposal, saying, "Many citizens wanted unification," and "There is only one day, the 17th, to unify."
He also suggested a specific unification method. He said, "Following the party's candidate primary rules, the unified candidate should be decided by combining 50% Daegu citizen opinion polls and 50% responsible party member votes, and the losing candidate must immediately withdraw from the primary," adding, "For responsible party member voting, let's use the already distributed safe-number party member list to replace it with a two-person race opinion poll." He continued, "Since it is impossible to conduct mobile phone opinion polls using safe numbers due to time constraints, we can use landline phone or media-released opinion poll results for the citizen opinion poll."
He also emphasized the need to conduct a unification opinion poll on the 20th before the primary party member vote and opinion poll, stating, "Unification negotiations must be concluded by the 17th, and the selection and registration of the polling agency must be done on the 18th," urging a prompt agreement.
Kim said, "As long as there are no unreasonable demands, the unification process is not difficult," and added, "I look forward to candidate Yoo's response."
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