"Gyeonggi-do Ultra-Close Race... The Side with More Votes Should Win"
"Clear Choice Between Voting for Someone You Know or Someone Competent"
"Offset by Party Support Gap... Can Win If You Work Hard"
Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party candidate who declared his candidacy for the Incheon Gyeyang-gu B by-election, is rehearsing before the start of the "National Assembly By-election Gyeyang-gu Candidate Debate," hosted by the Gyeyang-gu Election Commission, held at the OBS Gyeongin TV studio in Bucheon, Gyeonggi-do on the 25th. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jung-wan] Lee Jae-myung, the General Election Committee Chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated on the 26th that he does not believe the recent internal strife surrounding Park Ji-hyun, the Co-Chair of the Emergency Response Committee, will seriously affect the election.
Lee appeared on BBS Radio's 'Park Kyung-soo's Morning Journal' that morning and said, "The biggest influence is rather the election framework." He implied that external factors played a bigger role than the disagreements within the leadership that surfaced after Park proposed reform measures such as the 'retirement of the 586 generation' and 'overcoming fandom politics.'
He added, "The election is held just 20 days after the president's inauguration, and there was also a Korea-US summit. Therefore, there is inevitably an expectation for the new government." He continued, "Those who know a bit about politics had already predicted that the local election outlook would be difficult." He further stated, "If it were an easy election, I wouldn't have taken the risk of directly running in the Incheon Gyeyang-eul by-election and taking on the role of General Election Committee Chairman."
Regarding the Gyeonggi Province governor election, he said, "I see it as an extremely close race where the result is truly unpredictable." He explained, "Gyeonggi Province has a population of 14 million, so it is difficult to generalize the grassroots sentiment. Ultimately, the side with more active voters will have to be considered the winner."
On the recent poll results, he evaluated, "The residents of Gyeyang District are presented with two choices: whether the candidate has local ties or is competent. The tendency to emphasize local ties (by the opposing candidate) is because they have nothing else to boast about." He added, "Isn't the choice clear between electing someone you know who will develop the region and change your life, or electing a competent person?"
He continued, "However, although such expectations are high, the large gap in party approval ratings will offset all of that." He assessed, "I believe that if we work hard, we can win."
Regarding the police raid related to allegations surrounding him and Seongnam FC, he criticized, "It's absurd." He said, "The People Power Party filed a complaint against me for baseless reasons. Would they have dismissed the case without evidence during past investigations? The current raids on Seongnam City Hall and others seem like a show."
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