Yoon Seok-yeol Joins Hands with Ahn in Busan: "Ruling Party's Economic Pledges Are a Shortcut to National Ruin"

An "Busan's Development is Our Country's Balanced Development"

Candidate Yoon Seok-yeol visiting Busan. / Provided by the Busan City Party of the People Power Party

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Jucheol In] On the day before the presidential election, Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party’s presidential candidate, who visited Busan, repeatedly appealed for support, saying, “In a country with such sham servants deceiving the people, economic prosperity is absolutely impossible.”

On the 8th, at a rally in front of Oncheoncheon in Yeonje-gu, Busan, Yoon said, “Looking at the one-party dictatorship behavior of the Democratic Party government over the past five years, this cannot be called democracy.”

He continued, “In Daejang-dong, Kim Man-bae and his group embezzled all 850 billion won, and the government that neither tracks the funds nor investigates where the corruption and that money end up cannot bring about economic prosperity,” criticizing the administration.

Yoon said, “Currently, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate is proposing economic pledges modeled after the 1930s New Deal policy of the United States, planning to heavily tax the rich to finance fiscal investments and public projects to stimulate the economy,” adding, “This is the road to the country’s ruin.”

He stated, “What the government should do is to strictly uphold liberal democracy and the rule of law, severely punish corruption without bias toward any side, firmly reject forces that shake liberal democracy with dangerous ideologies, and only handle basic infrastructure such as interregional transportation and schools that are difficult for companies and markets to manage.”

Yoon promised, “To develop Busan into a world-class maritime city and global trading hub, I will attract the Korea Development Bank to Busan so that global investment banks can enter Busan, supporting industrial development and trade financing, making it a proper world-class maritime city and growing Busan into a financial city.”

He also raised his voice, saying, “For balanced regional development and growth across the Republic of Korea, it is impossible with a single axis centered on Seoul. Two axes operating in Seoul and Busan must function so that Daegu, Gwangju, and Daejeon can develop together, enabling the entire country to rise.”

Yoon appealed again for support, saying, “Thanks to you, I have run this marathon without knowing the political grammar or calculations of Yeouido, with your encouragement and support. Please help me break through the finish line in first place with your final cheer.”

In particular, he said, “If you give me overwhelming support to pass the final finish line in first place, I will cooperate with sensible and excellent politicians in the Democratic Party, quickly merge with the People’s Party led by Ahn Cheol-soo, and broaden our party’s values and goals, sincerely embracing more citizens’ opinions to achieve national unity.”

Yoon then proposed resolving regional animosities, saying, “Wherever we live in the Republic of Korea, we are all one. Whether in Gyeongsang-do, Jeolla-do, Gangwon-do, Chungcheong-do, Jeju-do, Gyeonggi, or Seoul, all Korean citizens are one wherever they live. And everyone has the same right to be treated fairly.”

At the rally that day, Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party and a native of Busan, joined the rally holding Yoon’s hand.

Ahn emphasized, speaking in the Busan dialect, “Am I not a Busan person? My grandfather went to Busan Commercial High School, my father to Busan Technical High School, and I graduated from Busan High School. I am a native Busan person.”

He pointed out, “If Seoul is the metropolitan area, Busan should be the second metropolitan area, a really prosperous place, but the gap is widening. The reason is the lack of jobs and the high housing prices. More importantly, regional balanced development is not happening.”

He continued, “I emphasize that Busan’s development is exactly the balanced development of our country, and that is the most important task to overcome low birth rates and aging. I promise to propose to Yoon the creation of the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam (Bu-Ul-Gyeong) mega city metropolitan economic zone and the attraction of private companies to Busan.”

At the end of the rally, Ahn repeatedly shouted “Yoon Seok-yeol,” saying, “I said this because I wondered if shouting it five times would convey my earnestness,” urging people to vote for Yoon.

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