Ruling Party's All-Out Effort in Busan Geumjeong By-Election... "Worker vs. Politician Showdown"

The ruling party has launched an all-out campaign to encourage voting in the Geumjeong District Office by-election, one week ahead of the October 16 by-election.

On the morning of the 9th, Han Dong-hoon, the leader of the People Power Party, along with the leadership and members of the National Assembly from the Busan area, held up hand signs encouraging early voting and shouted slogans at the on-site Supreme Council meeting held at the campaign office of Yoon Il-hyun, the candidate for the by-election for the mayor of Geumjeong-gu, Busan.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 9th, Han Dong-hoon, leader of the People Power Party, appealed at the on-site Supreme Council meeting held at the election office of Yoon Il-hyun, candidate for Geumjeong District Office, saying, "Local elections are directly connected to the lives of local residents and are elections that truly require voting. I ask many people to come out."

Supreme Council member Jang Dong-hyuk also urged conservative supporters to unite, stating, "The overall outcome of this by-election depends on the Geumjeong District Office election."

This visit to Busan by Leader Han came just three days after his one-night, two-day support campaign on the 5th and 6th. Including his first visit to Busan on the 28th of last month, this marks his third support campaign.

The leadership's consecutive visits to Busan appear to reflect concerns that the election situation is not favorable. Geumjeong is known as a conservative stronghold within Busan and is considered a so-called ruling party bastion. However, there are internal concerns within the ruling party that the unification of candidates by the Democratic Party and the Innovation Party of Jo Guk could trigger a 'convention effect' (a rise in approval ratings due to a political event) by consolidating opposition supporters.

They are also closely monitoring the possibility that President Yoon Seok-yeol’s approval rating, which recently fell below 30%, could influence local public opinion.

The party leadership is focusing on winning voters’ hearts by emphasizing local worker credentials to counter the opposition’s candidate unification, while highlighting the 'judicial risks' of Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung and others who advocate for regime judgment. Policy Committee Chair Kim Sang-hoon stressed at the Supreme Council meeting, "This Geumjeong District Office election is a contest between a 'Geumjeong native worker candidate' who protects and supports Geumjeong and its residents, and a 'transient politician candidate' who is mired in political strife and only aims to protect and support Lee Jae-myung regardless of what happens to Geumjeong."

Chair Kim promised to firmly support housing redevelopment, public tunnel development, and expansion of the complex cultural center, saying, "The ruling party will definitely take care of these." He added, "Please do not be fooled by the 'unification show' of the Democratic Party and minor parties that comes out like a broken radio every election season," and criticized, "The opposition says that this Geumjeong District Office by-election requires electoral treatment for regime judgment, but no. Leaders Lee Jae-myung and Jo Guk are the ones who need judicial treatment."

Leader Han also emphasized, "Does the Democratic Party want to come into Geumjeong and play political games to wipe out all our efforts to change Geumjeong?" and stressed, "We talk about policies. The policies that candidate Yoon mentioned will be supported by our People Power Party and the government."