"Appealing for Support of Specific Individuals is Illegal" ... Democratic Party Gyeongnam Provincial Party Urges Cheon Young-gi, Tongyeong Mayor, to Resign

The Democratic Party of Korea's Gyeongnam Provincial Party held a press conference on the morning of the 29th at the Gyeongnam Provincial Council briefing room, urging the resignation of Cheon Young-gi, mayor of Tongyeong.

Mayor Cheon is under investigation for allegedly appealing for support in next year's general election for Jeong Jeom-sik, a member of the People Power Party and the National Assembly member representing the Tongyeong-Goseong district, during the citizen grand festival on the last day of the 62nd Hansan Battle Festival on the 12th.

The Gyeongnam Election Commission is investigating whether Mayor Cheon violated the Public Official Election Act based on a citizen's report who recorded a video of Mayor Cheon making the statement at the festival.

The video is known to show Mayor Cheon and Assemblyman Jeong visiting booths at the festival venue.

Members of the Democratic Party of Korea's Gyeongnam Provincial Party are calling for the resignation of Cheon Yeong-gi, Mayor of Tongyeong.
[Photo by Lee Se-ryeong]

According to the video, Mayor Cheon said at one booth, “The head of ○○dong and the National Assembly member are elementary school classmates. So, should all the votes from ○○dong come out or not?” and added, “If the votes don’t come out next year, you know what to do.”

At another booth, Mayor Cheon asked, “There is a National Assembly election next year, who should we support?” After hearing cheers for Assemblyman Jeong, he shouted, “Please support him a lot. Tongyeong City has had a good relationship between the mayor and the National Assembly member for the first time in 20 years.”

At another location, he said, “The head of □□dong is a high school senior of Assemblyman Jeong Jeom-sik,” and added, “It won’t work if the votes don’t come out. Since it’s my district, please sell a lot of votes in April next year.”

The Democratic Party of Korea's Gyeongnam Provincial Party stated, “After reviewing Mayor Cheon’s remarks, we judge them to be clear acts of unfair electioneering and abuse of official authority,” and urged “strict investigation into Mayor Cheon’s resignation and the allegations of violating the Public Official Election Act.”

They claimed, “Mayor Cheon’s remarks are a form of courting the prosecutor-turned-district National Assembly member preparing for next year’s general election in the Tongyeong-Goseong district, a typical act of lining up and a prelude to abuse of official authority in elections.”

They continued, “We cannot dismiss the reasonable suspicion that Mayor Cheon abused personnel authority over eup, myeon, and dong heads and engaged in unfair practices in preparation for next year’s general election,” and urged “Mayor Cheon’s voluntary resignation and the Election Commission’s prompt investigation.”

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