The Democratic Party Drives Strongly for Gadeokdo New Airport... A Decisive Move in the Busan Mayoral Election

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] As the 'cancellation of Gimhae New Airport' became a reality, the Democratic Party of Korea has launched a strong drive to promote the construction of the 'Gadeokdo New Airport.' This move is being evaluated as a strategic play for the upcoming Busan mayoral by-election in April next year.

According to political circles on the 18th, the Democratic Party has launched the 'Southeastern New Airport Promotion Team' led by Policy Committee Chair Han Jeong-ae and has begun full-scale activities to promote the construction of Gadeokdo New Airport. Soon, Chair Han plans to propose a special law to accelerate the promotion of the Gadeokdo New Airport.

Almost all party resources are being mobilized for the promotion of Gadeokdo New Airport. At the emergency countermeasure meeting held the day before to promote the Southeastern gateway airport, all influential party figures including Representative Lee Nak-yeon, Floor Leader Kim Tae-nyeon, and Chair Han attended. In particular, Representative Lee stated, "We must not subject the citizens of Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam to further false hope. Diverse and extensive preparations, including legal supplements and prompt investigations, are necessary," and added, "We will form an organization responsible for this task composed of the Policy Committee, Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, and lawmakers from Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam, and provide full support."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Now, political attention is focused on how much the ruling party's promotion of Gadeokdo New Airport will affect the upcoming Busan mayoral by-election. Since the by-election originally arose from allegations of sexual misconduct against former Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don, who belonged to the Democratic Party, many predicted that the opposition party would have the upper hand. Because of this, even within the ruling party, there were openly expressed opinions that "holding onto either Seoul or Busan would be a good result."

The promotion of Gadeokdo New Airport has become a turning point that overturned these predictions. In a public opinion poll conducted by Asia Economy through WinG Korea Consulting on the 15th and 16th, the Democratic Party led with 31.9% over the People Power Party's 28.9% in the PK region where the Busan mayoral election is held. This is interpreted as a direct reflection of the Democratic Party's strong will to actively promote the construction of Gadeokdo New Airport.

Because of this, there are evaluations that this is a 'vote-catching' card aimed at the Busan mayoral by-election. However, the Democratic Party is making efforts to deny this. On the same day, Democratic Party Chief Spokesperson Choi In-ho appeared on a radio show and said, "The verification team has been active for one year and six months, and the by-election next year was originally not scheduled," adding, "It is a political claim to continuously associate the announcement of policy verification results with the election."

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