Lee Nak-yeon Side "Saved the Spark of Comeback... Will Focus on Honam Public Sentiment" Appeals for Support

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] On the 13th, the campaign team of former Democratic Party leader and presidential candidate Lee Nak-yeon made an urgent appeal for overwhelming support from Honam. With former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun announcing his withdrawal from the presidential race on the same day, attention is focused on where the votes from Honam, the stronghold of the two candidates, will go. Lee's Pil-yeon Camp emphasized its intention to actively court Honam voters, stating, "Starting tomorrow, we will hold meetings with the parliamentary group in Honam and focus on understanding and reflecting the sentiments of the Honam people."

Lee Nak-yeon, a presidential primary candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, is holding a press conference to announce his low birthrate pledge at the National Assembly Communication Office on the 13th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On the afternoon of the same day, Pil-yeon Camp’s chief spokesperson Oh Young-hoon released a statement saying, "The sincerity of candidate Lee Nak-yeon’s 'resignation from the National Assembly' has led to a rise in support rates," adding, "This has rekindled the spark of a comeback."

Oh explained, "Reflecting the cumulative vote rates from last weekend’s Democratic Party regional primaries and the first round of the national and general electorate voting, candidate Lee Jae-myung received 51.41%, while candidate Lee Nak-yeon received 31.08%," adding, "The vote rate gap narrowed by 20.3%, which is 6.23 percentage points less than the initial Chungcheong region primary results."

In the first and second rounds of the recent Democratic Party regional primaries in the Chungcheong region, candidate Lee Nak-yeon received 28.19%, and candidate Lee Jae-myung received 54.72%, resulting in a vote rate gap of 26.53 percentage points.

Oh said, "Candidate Lee Nak-yeon surpassed the 30% vote rate, reviving the spark of a comeback, while candidate Lee Jae-myung barely exceeded the majority," adding, "There was also a psychological factor of choosing a prepared and safe candidate over an unstable one."

He also reported, "In a suitability poll for the next progressive presidential candidate conducted by the Korea Society Opinion Institute on behalf of TBS from the 10th to the 11th, candidate Lee Jae-myung scored 28.7%, and candidate Lee Nak-yeon scored 25.1%," adding, "Compared to the previous identical poll conducted over the 3rd and 4th, candidate Lee Jae-myung dropped by 1.1 percentage points, while candidate Lee Nak-yeon rose by a remarkable 7.1 percentage points." Analysts attribute this to Lee Nak-yeon’s declaration of resignation from the National Assembly during this period.

Oh evaluated, "The public’s recognition of the sincerity behind the resignation from the National Assembly is understood as the driving force behind the rise in support rates."

He stated that the campaign will focus on the Honam region to maintain this upward momentum in the remaining primary schedule. He said, "The Honam sentiment, a sacred place of democratization that contributed to producing Presidents Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, and Moon Jae-in, will unite its strength behind candidate Lee Nak-yeon, who can win the general election," and earnestly requested, "We sincerely ask for overwhelming support for candidate Lee Nak-yeon in Honam, who is the most Democratic Party-like and will establish the 4th Democratic government, succeeding and developing the Moon Jae-in administration."

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