By-Election 'Hot Spots' Pyeongtaek-eul and Busan Buk-gu Gap in Fierce Races... Spotlight on Candidate Consolidation

Conservative Candidate Consolidation Remains the Biggest Uncertainty Until the End

"The Closer the Race, the Louder the Calls for Unification"

The constituencies of Pyeongtaek-eul in Gyeonggi-do and Buk-gu Gap in Busan, which have emerged as 'hot places' in the upcoming National Assembly by-elections to be held on June 3 alongside the 9th nationwide local elections, are experiencing fierce close races.

In both Pyeongtaek-eul, Gyeonggi-do, and Buk-gu Gap, Busan, the three-way competition has no clear frontrunner. According to a poll conducted by the JoongAng Ilbo from May 17 to 19 regarding the Pyeongtaek-eul by-election, Kim Yong-nam of the Democratic Party received 29% support, Cho Kuk of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party received 23%, Yoo Ui-dong of the People Power Party received 17%, Hwang Kyo-ahn of the Freedom and Innovation Party received 7%, and Kim Jae-yeon of the Progressive Party received 4%. Both the Kim Yong-nam vs. Cho Kuk and Cho Kuk vs. Yoo Ui-dong matchups are statistically tied within the margin of error.

Candidates for the Busan Buk-gu Gap National Assembly by-election: (from left in the photo) Ha Jung-woo, Democratic Party candidate; Park Min-sik, People Power Party candidate; Han Dong-hoon, Independent candidate. The Asia Business Daily DB

The situation in Busan Buk-gu Gap is also highly unpredictable. In a poll conducted by Channel A from May 17 to 19, Han Dong-hoon, the Independent candidate, received 34.6%, Ha Jung-woo of the Democratic Party received 32.9%, and Park Min-sik of the People Power Party received 20.5%. In a separate poll by the JoongAng Ilbo conducted during the same period, Ha Jung-woo received 35%, Han Dong-hoon 31%, and Park Min-sik 20%. In both constituencies, the issue of candidate consolidation is expected to remain a major point of contention until the very end.

In Pyeongtaek-eul, the conservative bloc has opened the discussion. Candidate Yoo Ui-dong appeared on YTN's 'Kim Junwoo's News Facing Off' the previous day and said, "We are seriously considering (consolidation) at a higher level."

In Busan Buk-gu Gap, there is a clear difference in stance between Park Min-sik and Han Dong-hoon. While Park Min-sik has stated, "There is not even a 1% chance of consolidation," Han Dong-hoon has remarked, "For politicians, 'never' does not exist." An official from the People Power Party commented, "If any candidate gains enough support to secure a win independently, the talk will die down, but as the race gets closer, calls for conservative consolidation will only grow stronger."

Meanwhile, the JoongAng Ilbo poll was commissioned to KStat Research and conducted via mobile phone interviews. The Channel A poll was commissioned to Research & Research and also conducted via mobile phone interviews. Both organizations' polls had a sampling error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For more details, refer to the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.

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