[Visiting the Battleground] Ansan Danwon, 'Three-Term Veteran' Park Soon-ja vs 'Young Blood' Kim Nam-guk

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] "Well, this time the opposition party will have a hard time. This time, the ruling and opposition parties are facing off one-on-one. Here in Ansan, people usually don't vote for conservative parties."

This is the statement of Kim (56), a resident who identified himself as a native of Ansan. Gyeonggi Ansan is traditionally known as a region with a strong progressive base. Most workers in the Banwol·Sihwa industrial complexes reside here, and about 40% of voters are known to be from Honam. Kim explained, "A long time ago, many people from Honam came by boat and settled in Ansan. So, there tend to be quite a few supporters of progressive parties."

However, among the four constituencies in Ansan, 'Danwon-eul' stands out as an exception to this public opinion formula. In the last general election, Park Soon-ja, then a candidate from the ruling party (Saenuri Party, now the United Future Party), succeeded in winning a third term (including one proportional representation term) in Ansan Danwon-eul. This was a result of the opposition parties, the Democratic Party and the People's Party, failing to unify their candidates and splitting the opposition vote. Nevertheless, considering that Danwon High School, which suffered the tragedy of the Sewol ferry disaster, is located in this district, Park's victory as a conservative ruling party candidate was regarded as a surprising outcome.

Park is now challenging for a fourth term. Based on her experience from three terms, she is emphasizing the achievements she has made in the region to appeal to voters.

In an interview with Asia Economy, Park said, "The Shinansanseon double-track railway project, which started with a petition campaign to bring it to Ansan in 2007, was initiated in September last year after 14 years, when I became the first female chairperson of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee. This marked a turning point for Ansan's future development." She added, "Also, in February last year, the Banwol Sihwa Industrial Complex was selected for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's 'Smart Leading Complex' project, laying the groundwork for it to develop into a cutting-edge future industrial complex suitable for the Fourth Industrial Revolution."

In particular, the 'Special Act on Metropolitan Area Wide Transportation Management,' which she directly proposed and passed as the chairperson of the Land Committee, is evaluated as having established a system to coordinate funding and resolve conflicts between the government and local governments regarding metropolitan transportation networks.

Last year, Park had a conflict with the party leadership over the chairperson position of the standing committee (Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee). Many predicted that her nomination would be difficult, but she was ultimately nominated unopposed. She attributed her nomination to, "I believed that the nomination would be evaluated by the local residents who are the voters. I think this principle and conviction were properly recognized."

Danwon-eul, which drew attention in the last general election due to the Sewol ferry disaster, has again become a hot topic in this election. The Democratic Party strategically nominated Kim Nam-guk, who participated as a co-author of the 'Cho Kuk White Paper,' as Park's challenger. Some in central politics analyze that the issue in Danwon-eul has shifted from 'Sewol' to 'Cho Kuk.'

Regarding this analysis, Kim said in an interview, "I am focused on the people’s livelihood and solely thinking about Ansan, striving for Ansan's development. The citizens of Ansan are wise and do not fall for such (Cho Kuk) frames." He added, "Rather than such public opinion, there is a strong demand from residents for good jobs and solutions to transportation issues. I will advance thinking only about the future of Ansan and the future of the Republic of Korea."

Kim is expanding his contact with local youth, fully utilizing the advantage of being 'young blood.' In particular, his key pledge is to revitalize the smart industrial complex through manufacturing innovation and industrial structure innovation in the Banwol Industrial Complex. Through this, he aims to create an industrial complex where young people want to work and increase jobs.

Kim defines himself as "a rookie politician who does not back down from injustice and fights back, and who was strategically nominated by the Democratic Party as a significant newcomer," adding, "Many citizens have high expectations for that. I will not lose my initial intention and will blend into the citizens of Ansan to find a breakthrough for Korea together."

The COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest variable in the competition for votes between the two candidates. Danwon-eul, where commercial districts are relatively developed within Ansan, is inevitably sensitive to the economic downturn caused by COVID-19. Public opinion is divided. University student Lee (25) said, "Seeing other countries asking our country for help in responding to COVID-19, I think the government is definitely handling COVID-19 well," adding, "At times like this, we need to support the government; otherwise, policies could be blocked by the opposition party, and nothing will get done." On the other hand, Park (60), who sells clothing at a department store, said, "The government seems to be putting out many measures related to COVID-19, but I don't really feel the effects," and added, "I plan to vote for the United Future Party candidate to make them get their act together."

Perhaps because of this public sentiment, the two candidates' election strategies related to COVID-19 are also distinctive. Park said, "I am holding policy meetings with various groups including small business owners to discuss measures to overcome the COVID-19 economic crisis," adding, "In particular, to resolve the mask shortage, I proposed to the government to utilize the Banwol Sihwa Industrial Complex as a domestic mask production base to help local small and medium-sized enterprises, conducting election campaigns and COVID-19 response simultaneously."

Kim said, "Large-scale rallies where people gather carry the risk of infection, so I am mainly walking through every corner of Ansan with campaign workers, especially comforting small business owners and self-employed people," adding, "Currently, the supply of public masks is at 80%, but it should be raised to 100%, and the government should control the import, production, and distribution of the key raw material MB filters and operate mask production facilities at 100% capacity to overcome the current mask crisis."

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