Bosung County Mayor Democratic Party Candidates, Heated Behind-the-Scenes Competition

Candidate Suitability Survey: 1st Place County Governor Kim Cheol-woo, 2nd Place Provincial Assembly Member Lim Young-soo with a Large Gap

Interest Grows in Single Candidate Nomination Under 'Cutoff System' if Gap Exceeds 20%

From the left in the photo: Kim Cheol-woo, Bosung County Governor; Byeon Jae-myeon, Ph.D. in Agriculture; Seon Hyeong-su, Head of the Love Briquette Sharing Branch; Im Young-su, Jeonnam Provincial Assembly Member.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] As the primary election, which in the Jeonnam region means that receiving the Democratic Party nomination is almost equivalent to winning, approaches in about a month, the competition among candidates running for Bosung County Governor is heating up.

In Bosung County, Kim Cheol-woo, the current Bosung County Governor, Im Young-soo, a member of the Jeonnam Provincial Assembly, Dr. Byeon Jae-myeon, an agricultural science PhD, and Seon Hyeong-su, head of the Love Briquette Sharing branch, are fiercely competing for the Democratic Party nomination.

In an evaluation of Bosung County Governor's administration conducted by Daily Research on the 12th and 13th at the request of Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Governor Kim received a positive rating of 75.2%, overwhelmingly surpassing the negative rating of 18.9%.

Regarding suitability as a candidate for Bosung County Governor, Kim Cheol-woo was recorded at 57.6%, far ahead of Im Young-soo at 31% and Dr. Byeon Jae-myeon at 3%.

So far, the Democratic Party has a precedent of applying a cut-off system to nominate a single candidate when the gap in public opinion polls exceeds 20%.

If the cut-off system is applied, Governor Kim Cheol-woo is likely to secure the single candidate nomination with a 26.6% lead according to the current poll results, drawing attention to whether the cut-off system will be applied in this local election as well.

The Democratic Party's local government head primary is expected to be conducted through a method combining 50% public opinion polling involving citizen participation and 50% voting by party members. The poll results play a crucial role in winning the primary.

Currently, to surpass Governor Kim's overwhelming approval rating, candidate Im Young-soo appears to need to devote all efforts to increasing his support rate.

Governor Kim Cheol-woo is evaluated for achieving a 94.2% pledge fulfillment rate over the past four years and for raising Bosung County's overall integrity rating, which had been among the lowest, to first place in Jeonnam, thereby restoring the pride of Bosung residents.

He also emphasizes his strength in having remained loyal to the Democratic Party for over 30 years without ever changing party affiliation.

Assemblyman Im's strengths lie in his extensive local legislative experience and broad network and support base built through roles such as president of the Gwangju Commercial High School Alumni Association Bosung Regional Chapter, vice president of the Bosung County Veterans Association, and president of the Bosung Youth Chamber.

However, his past as a key executive in a conservative party active in Bosung County, multiple repeated withdrawals from the Democratic Party after joining, and recent referral to the prosecution for election law violations are expected to work against him.

Dr. Byeon Jae-myeon, who ran as an independent in the 7th Bosung County Governor election and received 2.46% of the vote, will run in this election wearing the Democratic Party's colors. Attention is on how well Dr. Byeon, who has steadily built his local base, will perform.

Additionally, Seon Hyeong-su, head of the Love Briquette Sharing branch, who has long competed with Assemblyman Im Young-soo in provincial assembly elections, has recently decided to run and entered the primary.

For detailed information on the public opinion poll results cited in the article, please refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

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