Lee Nak-yeon, Lee Jae-myung, and Chung Sye-kyun Simultaneously Activate Presidential Campaign Systems

Lee Nak-yeon Visits Korea Employers Federation and Korea Federation of SMEs
Lee Jae-myung Gathers Members for Success Forum
Chung Sye-kyun Starts Campaign Activities This Week

[Asia Economy Reporters Oh Ju-yeon and Jeon Jin-young] Presidential candidates from the ruling party are beginning their full-scale election campaigns ahead of the preliminary primaries scheduled for June.

Former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon concluded his unofficial nationwide tour over the past month to gauge public sentiment and embarked on his first official presidential campaign on the 4th. His initial message focused on ‘expanding youth employment.’ On that day, Lee visited the Korea Federation of SMEs and the Korea Employers Federation consecutively, meeting with Kim Ki-moon, chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, and Sohn Kyung-shik, chairman of the Korea Employers Federation, urging companies to significantly increase youth hiring. This move is interpreted as targeting the 2030 generation’s votes, which were lost in the April 7 by-elections.

Simultaneously, he expressed his intention to boldly pursue unnecessary regulatory reforms on businesses. In particular, he pledged to actively process laws favored by the business community, such as the Service Industry Development Basic Act and the introduction of differentiated voting rights for venture companies. In the afternoon, Lee continued his economic activities by attending the publication ceremony of ‘Biohealth Industry Development Strategy 2030.’

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung, who is leading in approval ratings within the ruling party, began accepting membership applications for the parliamentary research group ‘Success and Fairness Forum’ (Success Forum) starting the previous day.

A close aide to Governor Lee told Asia Economy in a phone interview, “This group was created to discuss fairness, which is a key agenda of Governor Lee’s presidential campaign,” adding, “It will include lawmakers who are favorable to Lee and interested in policy.” Lee’s active presidential campaign is also influenced by the results of the Democratic Party’s May 2 party convention. A close aide commented, “The election of Song Young-gil instead of Hong Young-pyo shows the limitations of the pro-Moon Jae-in faction (Chinmun),” suggesting that Lee’s activities have become easier as he distances himself from the influence of the pro-Moon faction.

Former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun will begin full-scale campaign activities this week. Since last year, he has steadily operated the parliamentary group ‘Gwanghwamun Forum,’ establishing a base for the SK faction (Chung Sye-kyun faction). Chung is positioning himself as a counterbalance to Governor Lee, whose representative image is the ‘Basic Series,’ by proposing a basic asset system that provides 100 million won to young people. Chung’s primary goal before the primaries is to raise his approval ratings as much as possible and surpass former leader Lee Nak-yeon, who currently holds the second position within the party.

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