Open Party Emphasizes "Spicy Democratic Party" in Nationwide Campaign... Following Honam, Busan and Changwon

Citizens Party Draws Clear Lines with Open Party...Some Suspect a 'Pie Expansion Strategy'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Wondara] The Open Democratic Party is emphasizing the catchphrase "Spicy Democratic Party" as it conducts nationwide campaigns. The Together Citizens Party appears to be aligning with the Democratic Party leadership's schedule, setting itself apart from the Open Democratic Party. While some analyze this as a 'pie-splitting' strategy between the Open Democratic Party and the Citizens Party, the combined support rate of the two proportional representation parties has ultimately declined.

On the second day of the official election campaign, the 3rd, the Open Democratic Party is campaigning in Honam regions such as Jeonju, Iksan, and Gunsan. After morning greetings and street campaigns at intersections like Jeonju City Hall, Jeong Bong-ju, the Open Democratic Party's election committee chairman, and Representative Son Hye-won will hold a press conference at Iksan City Hall, while candidates Kim Ui-gyeom and Choi Kang-wook will hold one at Gunsan City Hall. The day before, the Open Democratic Party visited Gwangju and Mokpo to pay respects at the May 18th Cemetery and to commemorate the Sewol ferry victims. Over the weekend, they plan to visit Busan and Changwon consecutively.

This active approach contrasts with the Citizens Party, which, aside from participating in the Democratic Party's schedule, has not set separate official events. On the first day of the official election campaign, the Citizens Party held the Central Election Committee inauguration ceremony together with the Democratic Party at the National Assembly, and on this day, they will campaign in Jeju alongside Democratic Party leaders Lee In-young, floor leader, and Yoon Ho-jung, secretary-general.

The Open Democratic Party calls itself "the filial party of the Democratic Party" but criticizes the Citizens Party for having "no differentiation from the Democratic Party." Chairman Jeong appeared on CBS radio the day before and said, "The Citizens Party is a satellite proportional representation party of a huge party," adding, "They repeat the existing Democratic Party's claims without their own independent identity or assertions." He emphasized, "The Open Democratic Party is voicing its own independent opinions."

On the 2nd, when the official election campaign for the 21st National Assembly election began, Lee Hae-chan, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the "Democratic Party of Korea-Democratic Citizen Party 21st General Election Central Election Committee Joint Launch Ceremony" held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

On the same day, Kim Hong-gul, election committee chairman of the Citizens Party, raised his voice, saying, "The Open Democratic Party is a party formed by those who were dropped from the Democratic Party's nominations," and "If they gain seats and receive state subsidies, they might pursue an independent path." Yang Jeong-cheol, director of the Democratic Research Institute, visited the office of Gwangjin-eul candidate Go Min-jeong and criticized Open Democratic Party proportional candidates Kim Ui-gyeom and Choi Kang-wook, both former Blue House officials, saying, "I wish they had deeply considered what the spirit of Roh Moo-hyun, the spirit of Moon Jae-in, and the spirit of the Democratic Party are before making such choices. It's truly regrettable."

Meanwhile, as the two proportional parties continue to clash, some suggest this might be a 'pie-splitting' strategy. The conflict between the Open Democratic Party and the Citizens Party could absorb the proportional party issue and potentially boost the support rate for the Democratic Party-affiliated proportional coalition party.

However, according to public opinion polls, their conflict has led to a decline in the combined support rate of the Citizens Party and the Open Democratic Party. A survey conducted by Realmeter commissioned by TBS from the 30th of last month to the 1st of this month, targeting 1,514 voters, showed that the combined support rate of the Citizens Party (20.8%, down 9 percentage points from the previous week) and the Open Democratic Party (14.3%, up 2.6 percentage points from the previous week) was 35.1%, a 6.4 percentage point drop from the previous week's 41.5%.

This contrasts with the trend for the Korean Party, whose support dropped 2.6 percentage points to 25.1% compared to the previous week. The Justice Party's support rebounded by 2.3 percentage points to 8.2%, and the People's Party rose by 0.8 percentage points to 5.1%. This survey has a 95% confidence level with a sampling error of ±2.5 percentage points. For detailed survey outlines and results, refer to the Realmeter or the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission websites.

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