Yeom Tae-young Declares Candidacy for Supreme Council Member, Saying "Overcoming Lee and Park's Oppression, Making Suwon a 'Democratic Party Stronghold'"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Wondara] Yeom Tae-young, mayor of Suwon City, has announced his candidacy for the Democratic Party of Korea's Supreme Council member election. Yeom, a three-term mayor of Suwon, emphasized, "I transformed Suwon, once a conservative stronghold, into a Democratic Party bastion," and added, "As a grassroots politician, I will become a cornerstone for the Democratic Party's regime renewal."

On the morning of the 20th, Yeom held a press conference at the National Assembly announcing his candidacy, stating, "The Democratic Party's competitor is not the opposing parties but the 'past Democratic Party,'" and said, "I will leverage my experience as a three-term mayor of Suwon to strengthen the Democratic Party's foundational capabilities."

He said, "In my 10 years in office, I turned Suwon, once a conservative stronghold, into a Democratic Party stronghold, and in the 20th general election, all five constituencies?Gap, Eul, Byeong, Jeong, and Mu?were won under the Democratic Party's name. This is a unique achievement that no other city in the country has accomplished," adding, "The success of Korea's New Deal policy depends on the 'local regions.' The national governance framework must be completely transformed from a centralized system to a decentralized system for success."

He continued, "Only those trained on the ground can do it properly," emphasizing, "I, Yeom Tae-young, have rooted Democratic Party policies in local communities despite numerous political suppressions under the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations. These accumulated achievements have led to the choice of the Democratic Party."

Yeom stated, "The challenges by former district mayors and mayors (Park Woo-seop, former mayor of Nam-gu, Incheon, and Hwang Myung-sun, mayor of Nonsan) who previously ran for Supreme Council member were unsuccessful," and appealed, "Under the Democratic Party's name, 151 basic local government heads, 652 metropolitan council members, and 1,638 basic council members?a total of 2,441 grassroots politicians?are working together. If my challenge succeeds, it will itself be an innovation for the Democratic Party." He also stressed, "Please empower grassroots politicians more; I will become the cornerstone for the Democratic Party's regime renewal."

At the press conference, Democratic Party lawmakers Kim Du-kwan, Park Kwang-on, Kim Jin-pyo, Lee Hae-sik, Kim Young-bae, and Kim Seung-won attended. Among them, Kim Du-kwan (mayor of Namhae County), Lee Hae-sik (mayor of Gangdong District), and Kim Young-bae (mayor of Seongbuk District) are all former basic local government heads. Current basic local government heads, metropolitan and basic council members, including Mayor Hwang Myung-sun of Nonsan, also attended.

Meanwhile, Yeom serves as co-chair of the 21st National Assembly's 'Forum for Autonomy and Balance,' a member of the Presidential Committee on Balanced National Development under the Moon Jae-in administration, and a member of the National Climate and Environment Council addressing fine dust issues. Previously, he served as secretary for national tasks at the Blue House during the Roh Moo-hyun administration and as director of planning and coordination at the Presidential Advisory Committee on Sustainable Development. If Yeom is elected as a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party, he will become the first incumbent local government head to hold this position.

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