Jo Hae-jin Running in Nakdonggang Belt: "I Will Do My Best in Gimhae-eul"

Three-term lawmaker Cho Hae-jin of the People Power Party, who was requested by the party to run in the so-called 'Nakdong River Belt' area, accepted the party's request and decided to run in the Gimhae-eul district.

People Power Party lawmaker Cho Hae-jin is holding a press conference on the 13th at the National Assembly to announce his candidacy for the 22nd general election in Gimhae (Eul). [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the morning of the 13th, Cho held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office and said, "I will challenge the National Assembly seat in the Gimhae-eul electoral district of Gyeongnam in this general election," adding, "The party wanted me to run in Gimhae-eul to defeat the incumbent Democratic Party lawmaker and secure the seat, and after careful consideration, I made this decision." He continued, "If the Democratic Party once again secures a majority of seats or becomes the largest party in the National Assembly, the free democratic Republic of Korea will come to an end," and stated, "I will devote all my efforts in Gimhae-eul. I will burn myself out so that nothing remains."

Earlier, the People Power Party leadership requested senior lawmakers to run in difficult constituencies mainly in the Yeongnam region, which are held by Democratic Party lawmakers. Five-term lawmaker Seo Byung-soo was asked to run in Busan Bukgangseo-gap instead of Busan Jin-gu-gap, and three-term lawmaker Kim Tae-ho, who holds the Sancheong-Hamyang-Geochang-Hapcheon district in Gyeongnam, was requested to run in Yangsan-eul in Gyeongnam and accepted the request.

After the press conference, Cho told reporters that he chose Gimhae-eul, not Gimhae-gap as requested by the party, saying, "Ultimately, I followed the party's will and decided on Eul. During the finalization process, the party hoped I would run in Gimhae-eul, so I accepted."

Regarding a question about whether sacrifices are being made mainly by senior lawmakers in the PK region, he replied, "The party first requested the PK region because there are many Democratic Party seats in the metropolitan area, then in the Chungcheong region, and then in PK," adding, "The time to reclaim seats is more in TK than in PK." He further said, "If we win in the PK region, I don't think it will end as just a victory in PK," and added, "The momentum will spread to the Chungcheong and metropolitan areas, empowering candidates challenging Democratic Party lawmakers' districts, who will also perform well and achieve good results."