Over 50 Ruling Party Lawmakers from Lee Jae-myung's Camp to Fully Mobilize in Honam on the 18th and 19th

Ahead of the Primaries on the 25th and 26th
Over 50 Incumbent National Assembly Members Expected to Campaign
'Direct Advancement to the Final Without a Runoff' Key Battleground
Campaigns Mobilize All Resources for 'All-In on Honam'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Ahead of the Honam primary, which will be the 'biggest battleground' in the Democratic Party's primary race, all 50 members of the National Assembly belonging to Governor Lee Jae-myung's Open Camp will mobilize in Honam over two days on the 18th and 19th. The strategy is for incumbent lawmakers to campaign in the Honam region right before the Gwangju-Jeonnam primary (on the 25th) and the Jeonbuk primary (on the 26th), securing a 'direct advance to the final round without a runoff.'

According to the Open Camp on the 13th, all 50 incumbent lawmakers who joined Governor Lee's camp have confirmed their schedule to campaign in the Honam region this weekend. A senior lawmaker from the Open Camp said, "Although there are regional differences within Honam, former Representative Lee Nak-yeon is highly favored in many areas, so the tension is high," adding, "We will mobilize all the camp's resources to prepare for the Honam primary during the remaining period."

Governor Lee has maintained momentum with a majority win in the previous four primaries (cumulative vote share of 51.41%), but the crisis is significant as former Representative Lee Nak-yeon, whose hometown is Yeonggwang, Jeonnam, has taken a last-ditch stance by resigning from his parliamentary seat. The resignation proposal is also expected to be processed in the plenary session on the same day.

In an online Zoom press conference on the 14th, Governor Lee stated, "(Honam) is the home turf of candidate Lee Nak-yeon, and his support rate is also high there. We cannot be optimistic at all," adding, "Since I barely secured a majority, I am worried that it will not be easy to get a majority in other regions, especially Honam. We will do our best to prepare until the very end."

Meanwhile, according to this publication's poll on the suitability of Democratic Party presidential candidates, among Democratic Party supporters, Governor Lee led with 48.1%, ahead of former Representative Lee Nak-yeon at 33.2%, a gap of 14.9 percentage points. However, in Gwangju and Jeolla (sample size 102), the support rates for Governor Lee (36.4%) and former Representative Lee Nak-yeon (36.3%) were nearly tied. (Commissioned by Winzi Korea Consulting, conducted on voters aged 18 and over from the 11th to 12th, 1,022 respondents, response rate 7.4%, via wireless ARS using virtual mobile phone numbers 100%)

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