Lee Jae-myung, Lee Nak-yeon, and Chung Sye-kyun, Having Completed Alliance Formation, Rally Support Consecutively

Presidential Election Think Tanks Launched in Succession

Lee Jae-myung Intensifies Real Estate Pledges
Lee Nak-yeon Continues Daily Activities
Chung Sye-kyun Heads to Jeonbuk After Honam Forum

[Asia Economy Reporters Oh Ju-yeon, Koo Chae-eun, Jeon Jin-young] The ruling party’s top three presidential candidates?Lee Jae-myung, Lee Nak-yeon, and Chung Sye-kyun?have consecutively launched think tanks and released presidential campaign messages as they begin rallying support.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung attended the launch ceremony of his nationwide support group, “Democratic Peace Plaza,” on the 12th. This group was organized to secure Lee’s presidential victory and the reestablishment of the administration. It positions itself as a nationwide organization supporting Lee from the outside. Five-term lawmaker Cho Jung-sik and former Minister of Unification Lee Jong-seok serve as co-chairs, and about 15,000 founding members, including lawmakers and figures from various sectors, participated, making it a “mammoth-scale” organization. Eighteen incumbent lawmakers are among the founding members, with many closely affiliated with former Democratic Party leader Lee Hae-chan.

On the same day, Lee also attended a policy forum on “Realizing Fair Taxation on Non-Residential Real Estate” held at the Glad Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul, where he presented his policy vision related to real estate. He stated, “Even for the same type of housing, affordable housing for ordinary citizens has a higher rate of official land price realization, while expensive housing has a lower rate,” emphasizing, “Taxes should be lower for those who are struggling, lower on essentials, and move toward ensuring substantive equity.”

Former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon, who broke his silence after about a month following the April 7 by-elections, has been maintaining a “one action per day” approach starting with a “youth job creation” message on the 4th. Although his official presidential candidacy announcement is expected in early June, he appears to be organizing his team ahead of the launch event. On this day, Lee attended the presidential candidacy declaration ceremony of Chungnam Province Governor Yang Seung-jo. Lee’s side explained, “Since Governor Yang and former leader Lee are close and there was a request to attend the declaration ceremony, he decided to go.” Governor Yang is regarded as a representative candidate from the Chungcheong region, and Lee is in a position where support from the Chungcheong region needs to be supplemented.

Former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun continued his efforts to solidify his base in Honam on the same day. He attended a Honam-based forum to share his presidential ambitions and plans to tour his hometown, Jeollabuk-do, for four days and three nights to rally support. During this Honam tour, Chung plans to meet with various groups, including city and provincial lawmakers, young entrepreneurs, and small business associations, to listen to local issues and difficulties.

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