Kang Yong-seok Proposes 'Gyeonggi Governor Candidate Unification' to Kim Eun-hye: "Let's Check the Approval Ratings"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Kang Yong-seok, an independent candidate for Governor of Gyeonggi Province, has expressed his support for unifying right-wing candidates.

On the 14th, Kang proposed unification to Kim Eun-hye, the People Power Party candidate, through a post on his Facebook page under the name of the election campaign committee, stating, "To secure the political future of the free right-wing forces, I will confirm the approval ratings in the Gyeonggi Province governor election."

Kang's side set the condition for unification as holding three bilateral TV debates with candidate Kim. Afterward, they proposed conducting one opinion poll including only the candidates' names without party affiliations, and based on the results, to accept the outcome and actively cooperate in the election campaign.

Kang's camp added, "We have no intention of setting any further conditions or making other demands behind the scenes," emphasizing, "We clearly state that aside from this method of unification, we intend to verify the vote count results."

Previously, candidate Kim had drawn a line on the possibility of unification, saying, "Even if votes are regrettable, maintaining principles is my political philosophy." This was interpreted as a concern that unification might cause a loss of moderate voters due to Kang's history of reckless disclosures and allegations from the far-right side, which had caused controversy.

However, a subtle shift in Kim's stance has recently been detected. On the 12th, during an appearance on CBS's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show," Kim left room for unification by saying, "I will follow the perspective that the residents think is right," and added, "I respect the opponent and say that 'I will run'."

In this situation, with Kang's camp officially proposing unification, negotiations with candidate Kim are expected to intensify.

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