Who Will Run in the Local Elections in Gyeongnam... Quiet on the First Day of Preliminary Candidate Registration

Democratic Party's Presidential Contribution Reflected in Nomination

All Four Changwon Mayors from People Power Party

Fierce Competition Among Multiple Candidates for Sacheon Mayor

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Jucheol In] On June 1, the preliminary candidate registration for the ‘8th Nationwide Simultaneous Local Elections’ began, and as of the 18th, only 29 candidates had registered in Gyeongnam Province. This is in stark contrast to previous years when many candidates flocked on the first day of registration.

According to the Gyeongsangnam-do Election Commission on the 22nd, on the first day of preliminary candidate registration, 22 candidates from the People Power Party, 2 each from the Justice Party and the Progressive Party, and 3 independents registered.

Compared to the 182 candidates who visited the election commission on the first day of preliminary registration for mayors and provincial/city council members in the previous 7th local elections held in 2018, this is only about 16% of that number.

This year, with the presidential election held ahead of the nationwide simultaneous local elections for the first time, it appears that both the Democratic Party and the People Power Party have ordered their members to ‘go all-in on the presidential election.’

The Democratic Party declared that ‘preliminary candidate registration will proceed after the presidential election’ and that ‘contributions to the presidential election will be reflected in local election nominations.’ The People Power Party announced a policy of ‘complete prohibition of personal election promotion activities until the election.’

It is analyzed that the preliminary candidate registration rate is even lower due to the delayed redistricting of the National Assembly constituencies. The National Assembly’s Special Committee on Political Reform has yet to finalize the redistricting, which was originally legally due on December 1 of last year, even after three months have passed. With no progress in bipartisan agreement, it is widely expected that the decision will be made after the presidential election.

For mayoral elections, a total of 11 candidates registered: 4 in Changwon, 3 in Tongyeong, 1 in Sacheon, 1 in Gimhae, and 2 in Geoje.

All four candidates for Changwon mayor are from the People Power Party: Song Byeong-kwon, spokesperson for the People Power Party Gyeongnam Provincial Party; Jang Dong-hwa, former Gyeongnam Provincial Assembly member; Jo Cheong-rae, former chairman of the Changwon Facilities Corporation; and Cha Joo-mok, chairman of the People Power Party Changwon Special City Development Special Committee.

For the Tongyeong mayoral election, registered candidates include Kang Seok-woo, former secretary to the National Assembly Deputy Speaker from the People Power Party; Cheon Young-gi, spokesperson for the People Power Party Gyeongnam Provincial Party; and Seo Pil-eon, former 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, running as an independent.

For the Sacheon mayoral election, Lee Won-seop, former research professor at Gyeongsang National University from the People Power Party, registered as a preliminary candidate. The Sacheon mayoral seat became vacant after former Mayor Song Do-geun was convicted by the Supreme Court in November last year for accepting money from an acquaintance, resulting in the loss of his mayoral position.

With former Mayor Song’s disqualification from candidacy and his thwarted attempt at a third term, nearly nine local figures, including People Power Party candidates, are expected to run in the Sacheon mayoral election. Sacheon is traditionally a conservative-leaning area, so fierce nomination competition among People Power Party candidates is anticipated.

For Gimhae mayor, Park Dong-jin, chairman of GOOD Development Group from the People Power Party, and for Geoje mayor, Kim Beom-jun, director of the Geoje Policy Research Institute, and Yoon Ho-jin, director of the Geoje Future Development Strategy Institute, have completed their preliminary candidate registrations.

For provincial assembly members, only two candidates registered in Sacheon: Shin Hyun-geun, a central committee member of the People Power Party, and Im Cheol-gyu, former deputy director of the Statistics Korea.

For city council preliminary candidates, 16 registered: 1 in Changwon, 2 in Jinju, 3 in Tongyeong, 5 in Sacheon, 3 in Geoje, and 2 in Yangsan. Compared to other elections, party affiliations were more diverse, many were incumbent local council members, and there was even a 20-year-old university student candidate.

In the Changwon city council election, Seok Young-cheol, former Gyeongnam Provincial Assembly member from the Progressive Party, registered as a preliminary candidate. In Jinju city council, two candidates registered: incumbent Ryu Jae-su from the Progressive Party and independent Lee Hyun-wook.

For Tongyeong city council, candidates include Kim Seong-gyu, former vice chairman of the Industry Committee of the Grand National Party Central Committee from the People Power Party; Shin Cheol-gi, former head of the Culture and Arts Division at Tongyeong City Hall; and Kim Tae-gyun, special rescue team leader of the Korea Maritime Rescue Association Gyeongnam Western Branch.

All preliminary candidates for Sacheon city council are from the People Power Party: Kang Myung-soo, central committee member; Kim Min-gyu, co-CEO of M Convention Wedding Hall Buffet; Shin Han-chul, former chairman of the Sacheon Football Association; Jin Bae-geun, former deputy head of the Seopo-myeon Administrative Welfare Center; and incumbent Jeon Jae-seok.

For Geoje city council, candidates registered include Lee Yang-sik, chairman of the Justice Party Geoje Regional Committee Local Autonomy Committee; Kim Jong-dae, invited professor at Gyeongnam National University from the People Power Party; and Jeong Byeong-gyu, former chairman of the Okpo 2-dong Residents’ Autonomy Committee.

For Yangsan city council, 22-year-old university student independent candidate Jeong Seong-hoon and Kwon Hyun-woo, chairman of the Justice Party Yangsan City Committee, have thrown their hats into the ring.

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