[22nd General Election Who Will Run] Jeonnam Yeosu (Gap)

Jucheolhyun vs Iyongju 'Geomgeom' Showdown Gains Attention

Park Jeongsuk from Kukhim Also Steps Up with Swift Moves

The Jeonnam Yeosu Gap electoral district is showing a chase pattern among challengers amid the incumbent's stronghold. In particular, attention is focused on the showdown between Joo Cheol-hyun of the Democratic Party of Korea, a former prosecutor and high school senior-junior, and former lawmaker Lee Yong-ju.

From the left, Joo Chul-hyun, Lee Yong-ju, Park Ki-sung, Park Jung-sook preliminary candidates.

Representative Joo Cheol-hyun, a former chief prosecutor of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office and head of the violent crimes division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, was elected mayor of Yeosu in the 2014 local elections with 50.1% of the vote. After losing the party primary amid allegations of preferential treatment in the Sangpo district during the June 13, 2018 local elections, he made a comeback by entering the National Assembly.

On the central political stage over the past four years, he succeeded in enacting the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident Special Act and promoting public development of the Yeosu Expo site led by the Yeosu Gwangyang Port Authority. Other major achievements include laying the foundation for the establishment of Yeosu University Hospital, initiating a preliminary feasibility study for the Yeosu Expressway, confirming the construction of the Geumo-do sea bridge, securing research funds for comprehensive development of Yeosu Port, and enacting the Marine Leisure Tourism Promotion Act.

Challenging him, former lawmaker Lee Yong-ju served as chief prosecutor at the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, chief prosecutor at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, and as a representative lawyer at the law firm Taewon. He joined the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, the predecessor of the Democratic Party, in 2015 and prepared to run, but switched to the People's Party the following year and was elected in the 20th general election for Yeosu Gap.

After leaving the People's Party in 2018, he attempted to rejoin the Democratic Party but failed, then ran for re-election as an independent. However, he was defeated by former mayor Joo Cheol-hyun. Later, in 2021, he rejoined the Democratic Party through a 'general amnesty' for party switchers.

Park Ki-sung, a former adjunct professor at Sungkyunkwan University who is seeking the Democratic Party nomination, graduated from Seoul National University’s Department of Journalism and its graduate school, and earned a doctorate from the University of Westminster in the UK. He has served as a member of the Broadcasting Commission and is the son of the late Park Byung-hyo, who served as a National Assembly member for Yeosu in the 9th and 10th terms.

In his declaration of candidacy, Director Park emphasized, “I will implement policies to make Yeosu, which is in crisis, 'Yeosu again' and restore its former glory.”

From the ruling party, Park Jung-sook, chairwoman of the Forestry and Environment Committee of the People Power Party’s Jeonnam Provincial Party, has thrown her hat into the ring. She is the only woman among those who applied for the nomination in Jeonnam.

Meanwhile, the finalization of the Yeosu Gap electoral district remains undecided, posing a variable. Boundary adjustments may be made, with Samildong and Myodong moving to Eul, and Dundeokdong moving to Gap.