Handonghun Visits Busan and Gimhae
Lee Jaemyung Visits Daejeon, Sejong, and Cheongju
On the 14th, the leaders of the ruling and opposition parties visited key battlegrounds for the general election to court voters. Han Dong-hoon, the Emergency Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, visited Busan and Gimhae in Gyeongnam, known as the 'Nakdong River Belt,' while Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, visited the Chungcheong region, considered a swing voter area following the metropolitan area.
Leader Lee plans to appeal to the Chungcheong electorate while emphasizing the need to judge the current administration. In Daejeon, he criticized the current government's Achilles' heel, including the reduction of the research and development (R&D) budget, the Osong underpass disaster, and the subsequent response issues. At a joint meeting of Daejeon National Assembly and Jung-gu mayoral candidates and a victory resolution rally, Lee said, "Science and technology are the very economy of Daejeon, and the R&D budget is about people's livelihoods, but the current administration has destroyed today's Daejeon and tomorrow's Korea with violent cuts to the R&D budget." Additionally, Lee emphasized, "This general election is a confrontation between the people, the owners of this country, and the Yoon Seok-yeol administration that has damaged democracy. We must make it a day of victory for the people to revive the broken livelihood economy, restore the collapsed democracy, and regain lost peace."
Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung visited Yongmun Market in Yongsan-gu with candidate Kang Tae-woong on the 13th and is eating a donut handed to him by a merchant. [Image source=Yonhap News]
Afterward, Leader Lee visited livelihood sites such as the Euneungjeongi area in Daejeon, Sejong Traditional Market, and Yukgeori General Market in Cheongju. During his visit to Chungbuk, he paid respects at the joint memorial altar for the Osong underpass disaster set up at the temporary Cheongju City Hall and met with the bereaved families. The Osong underpass disaster occurred last July during heavy rains when a nearby embankment broke, flooding the underpass and resulting in 14 deaths and 9 injuries. The government's and local authorities' inadequate response at the time was pointed out as a cause of the disaster. In the last general election, the Democratic Party swept all 7 seats in Daejeon and 2 seats in Sejong, and secured 5 out of 8 seats in Chungbuk.
Han, who had focused on campaigning in the metropolitan area for some time, returned to local visits. The first places he visited were the PK region, including Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam. In the Nakdong River Belt, considered the last stronghold of the Democratic Party in PK, the People Power Party secured only 4 out of 9 seats in the last general election. Notably, two of the areas visited that day were places where Seobyeong-su (Busan Buk-gu Gap) and Jo Hae-jin (Gyeongnam Gimhae-si Eul), who accepted party requests to relocate to these challenging districts, ran for election as part of a mission to reclaim 'enemy territory.' This reflects the determination to achieve victory in the Nakdong River Belt, one of the People Power Party's official paths to general election success. Originally, Seobyeong-su and Jo were lawmakers of adjacent districts but changed their constituencies before the election upon the party's request as senior members.
On that day, Chairman Han visited Gupo Market in Busan Buk-gu and Goejeong Alley Market in Saha-gu before heading to Gimhae to attend a meeting at Hakmu High School and visit Oedong Traditional Market.
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