Kwon Seong-dong: "I Will Run as an Independent... Let's Unite Conservative Candidates Through Polls"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Lee Ji-eun and Kim Hye-min] Kwon Seong-dong, a member of the Future United Party who was cut off (excluded from nomination) in the candidate selection process, declared his independent candidacy and simultaneously proposed unifying conservative candidates.

On the 16th, Kwon stated in a press release, "To prevent conservative division and block the election of the Democratic Party candidate, I formally propose the unification of conservative candidates."

He criticized the party's nomination, saying, "The United Party suddenly brought in someone with no activity in Gangneung just over a month before the general election and parachuted the candidate with a short interview in just one day," and expressed his intention to run as an independent candidate, saying, "I will temporarily leave the United Party and run in the general election as a candidate representing the citizens of Gangneung."

However, he proposed this compromise plan out of concern for the division of conservative votes. Kwon explained, "Before starting the election campaign or before printing the ballots, a public opinion poll will be conducted, and the leading candidate will run as the unified conservative candidate, and the loser will accept the result cleanly," adding, "I will also accept the result cleanly if I lose and do my best for the election of the unified conservative candidate."

On the same day, since the party's supreme council did not request a reconsideration of the nomination plan for the Gangneung region by the Public Official Recommendation Committee, the United Party candidate for this area was decided to be former Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety Hong Yoon-sik. While expressing his intention to run as an independent, Kwon made a somewhat unusual proposal to unify conservative candidates. He said, "If we do not give the citizens of Gangneung, the owners of Gangneung, the opportunity to choose a unified conservative candidate, that would be a politician who only fosters division and pursues selfish desires."

Kwon emphasized his achievements, saying, "With the encouragement and support from the citizens of Gangneung over the past ten years, I have worked very hard. Hosting the Winter Olympics brought all the core benefits that would be the foundation for the future of Gangneung to our city," and added, "I significantly increased the national funding support for the construction of Olympic venues from 30% to 75%, saving 365.4 billion KRW in local government expenses, and the construction of the KTX Gangneung Line has dramatically advanced Gangneung's future."

He appealed for support, saying, "If I, Kwon Seong-dong, who has developed Gangneung together with the citizens, become a four-term lawmaker, Gangneung will grow even more," and questioned, "Who can develop Gangneung better: someone who suddenly appeared a month before the election or Kwon Seong-dong, who has been directly chosen and nurtured by the citizens of Gangneung for over ten years and is about to become a four-term lawmaker?"

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.