'Recapturing Gangwon Province after 12 Years'... Kim Jin-tae, "I Will Keep My Promise by Focusing Only on the Residents"

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On the morning of the 2nd, as Kim Jin-tae, the governor-elect of Gangwon Province, was confirmed to have won, he raised his hand with his wife in response to the cheers of supporters. Photo by Ra Young-cheol

[Asia Economy Reporter La Young-cheol] Kim Jin-tae, the elected governor of Gangwon Province from the People Power Party, stated, "I will never forget my promise to focus solely on the people of Gangwon Province," and expressed his election victory sentiment by saying, "I will complete the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, which has taken its first step, together with the Yoon Seok-yeol administration."

On the morning of the 2nd, at his Wonju election camp, Kim Jin-tae responded to reporters' questions about his feelings on winning the 8th nationwide simultaneous local elections for Gangwon governor, saying, "The change of Gangwon provincial government, which was even more difficult than the regime change, has finally succeeded. Thanks to the people of Gangwon," expressing his gratitude.

He continued, "I am someone who came to this position even after a hunger strike," and promised again, "I will never forget the warm hearts of the residents who held my hand back then, and from now on, I will think only of the people of Gangwon."

Regarding the decisive factor for his election victory, he said, "The biggest trend was that the new government has started, and they want to let me work," adding, "I came this far with difficulty, and there seemed to be a sentiment of 'let's entrust Kim Jin-tae once.'"

He added, "In Gangwon Province, the Democratic Party was given a chance for 12 years, which is enough. Now, the public opinion seemed to agree that new wine should be put into new wineskins."

Earlier, on the 29th of last month, when the 'Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Act' passed the National Assembly plenary session, he also emphasized, "I will accelerate the development of Gangwon Province together with the Yoon Seok-yeol administration."

It is analyzed that the public opinion trend, which leaned more toward supporting rather than checking the Yoon Seok-yeol administration before the election, and the rising party approval rating of the People Power Party, also worked in favor of candidate Kim.

Regarding the most urgent representative campaign promise, he emphasized, "I will definitely attract Samsung Electronics to Wonju. I will include Wonju in the semiconductor cluster and promote it as a national agenda of the new government."

Kim, in particular, targeted voters by presenting presidential-level pledges such as attracting Samsung Electronics' semiconductor factory to the Buron Industrial Complex in Wonju.

Regarding Gangwon Province's current issues, including various suspicions and problems raised about Legoland and Alpensia, he said, "Whether we like it or not, Legoland was born as a prodigy, so I will somehow raise it to be a beautiful child."

However, Kim said, "Alpensia has quite serious problems," and left room for consideration by stating, "After understanding the circumstances of the bid-rigging issue, I will seek new alternatives."

Regarding the launch of the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, he promised, "Gangwon Province has newly launched as Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province after 600 years. Filling in the contents of the bill starts now," and added, "I will gather the will of the people of Gangwon to create a splendid Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province and surely achieve the era of Gangwon with a population of 2 million in the metropolitan area."

Kim also emphasized the unity of the people of Gangwon Province.

He said, "Until now, I was called an icon of conservatism, but now I will become an icon of inclusion who gathers the scattered public sentiment again," and added, "I will naturally embrace and serve better those who did not vote for me. Please watch over me."

Regarding his competitor Lee Kwang-jae, he said, "I had a really great opponent and a great competition. It was the cleanest election I have ever experienced, ending neatly without mutual slander, lawsuits, or accusations. I send my respect and consolation."

Meanwhile, as of 2 a.m. on the 2nd, Kim was ahead of candidate Lee by 10.69 percentage points. Kim, who led by 9.8 percentage points in the exit polls by the three terrestrial broadcasters (KBS, MBC, SBS), maintained his lead continuously from the start of the vote count.

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