'Enemies and Allies' Lee Jae-myung and Cho Kuk, 'Alliance' in Busan, 'Competition' in Yeonggwang

The Democratic Party of Korea and the National Innovation Party are strengthening both cooperation and competition two days ahead of the October 16 by-elections. They have formed an alliance front, including unifying candidates for the opposition victory in Busan, considered the fiercest battleground in this election. Their intention is to gain momentum for a 'regime judgment' by winning in Busan, a stronghold of the ruling party.

On the morning of the 14th, Cho Kuk, leader of the National Innovation Party, visited Busan to support Kim Kyung-ji, the Democratic Party candidate for the Busan Geumjeong District Mayor by-election. This visit was made after Cho Kuk personally requested election support from Cho. Earlier, on the 6th, the Democratic Party and the Innovation Party decided to unify candidates for the opposition victory in Geumjeong, Busan, and Cho Kuk’s direct expression of support fulfilled this promise.

Cho Kuk’s support for the Democratic Party candidate is a significant decision made just two days before the election. Instead of supporting opposition candidates in Yeonggwang and Gokseong, Jeonnam, where competition among opposition candidates is fierce, he chose to support the unified opposition Democratic candidate in Busan. Cho said, "Although the election camp expressed great regret, I am willingly going to Busan to serve the cause of judging the Yoon Seok-yeol administration."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (right), is visiting Cho Guk, leader of the Cho Guk Innovation Party, at the National Assembly on the 21st. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Busan Geumjeong is one of the long-standing strongholds of the ruling party. Except for the period around the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye in 2018, the Democratic Party has never won an election there. If the opposition wins in Busan, both Cho Kuk and Cho can solidify their leadership and gain momentum for their offensive against the ruling party. It could also signal that trust in the Yoon government is wavering even in its strongholds.

The People Power Party is also fighting desperately to defend Busan Geumjeong. Han Dong-hoon, leader of the People Power Party, visited his fourth campaign site on the 12th to hold support rallies ahead of the election. There are forecasts that if the ruling party loses in Busan, responsibility debates between the pro-Yoon (pro-Yoon Seok-yeol) faction and the pro-Han (pro-Han Dong-hoon) faction could intensify.

Meanwhile, in the opposition strongholds of Yeonggwang and Gokseong, Jeonnam, the three opposition parties are engaged in internal conflict. The Innovation Party and the Progressive Party are shaking the Democratic Party’s position as the traditional 'leader of Honam.' According to the National Election Commission, on the first day of early voting for the October 16 by-elections on the 12th, the voter turnout for the Yeonggwang County Mayor re-election was the highest at 24.7%, followed by the Gokseong County Mayor re-election at 24.1%. This indicates that citizens’ interest in the competition among opposition candidates has also increased.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Yeonggwang election is expected to remain fiercely contested until just before voting. On the ground, the atmosphere is intensifying with mutual slander among Democratic candidate Jang Se-il, Innovation Party candidate Jang Hyun, and Progressive Party candidate Lee Seok-ha. There are also signs of attempts to raise accountability toward the Innovation Party centered on the Democratic Party. If the opposition loses to the ruling party, the argument will be that the Innovation Party did not participate in candidate unification. In response, the Innovation Party warned, "We hope they do not make the mistake of losing the big picture for small gains."

The tension between leaderships over the Honam election continues. Democratic Party lawmaker Cho Seung-rae said, "It is not desirable to charge toward the main force after claiming to play the role of an icebreaker," while Innovation Party lawmaker Kim Seon-min emphasized, "We have no intention of becoming the Democratic Party’s 'five-minute standby team.'" From the Innovation Party’s perspective, winning in Honam is seen as an opportunity to expand their scope as a national party ahead of local elections. Conversely, if the Democratic Party loses in Honam, it is analyzed that this could affect Cho’s prospects for the next presidential race.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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