On the first official day of the 21st presidential election campaign, Lee Jae Myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, who had emphasized the economy, headed to Daegu and North Gyeongsang?traditionally conservative strongholds?on the second day. The Democratic Party explained that the visit was intended to "create a new miracle of the Nakdong River through national unity and balanced development."
Lee Jae Myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, is changing into sneakers at the departure ceremony and first campaign rally held at Cheonggye Plaza in Seoul on the 12th. Photo by Kim Hyun Min
According to the Democratic Party Central Election Committee on May 13, Lee will visit four cities in the Daegu and North Gyeongsang region, starting with a rally at Gumi Station Plaza in Gumi, North Gyeongsang, and continuing to Daegu, Pohang in North Gyeongsang, and Ulsan. In this region, which has been the center of state-led industrialization, he plans to announce industry-specific pledges tailored to each area. Cho Seung Rae, spokesperson for the election committee, said, "Lee will present his vision for Gumi to be reborn as the core engine driving the Korean economy."
In Daegu, Lee will present a new vision that goes beyond the region's mainstay textile and fashion industries. In Ulsan, he will propose strategies to respond to global supply chain restructuring and tariff wars. In Pohang, he plans to honor former Prime Minister Park Tae Joon, the first chairman of POSCO, and discuss ways for Korea to lead global steel technology as well as responsible growth measures such as carbon neutrality.
On this day, Lee wrote on his social network service (SNS), "With the 'Everyone's Question Q' notebook, which contains the questions and wishes of the people (from the previous day), and tightly lacing up sneakers with red and blue laces, I took the first step of the K-Initiative, carrying your hopes with me."
Regarding the previous day's campaign, he explained, "I met young developers, office workers, and scientists in Pangyo, Dongtan, and Daejeon," adding, "Although productivity has improved thanks to the development of advanced industries, we discussed whether our society is sharing the benefits evenly and what solutions there are for fair working conditions and manageable workloads."
The previous day, Lee visited Pangyo in Gyeonggi Province, where he discussed the innovation industry with IT workers over sandwiches. Starting his campaign by listening to voices from the field of future innovation industries reflects his intention to take the lead in the discourse on innovative growth and appeal to centrist voters.
Even before being nominated as the presidential candidate, Lee met with major business leaders to discuss solutions for overcoming the economic crisis and has shown deep interest in advanced industries such as artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors.
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