Park Hyung-jun Registers as Preliminary Candidate for Busan Mayor... "Pledges to Complete Busan as a True Global City"

On April 27, Mayor Park Hyungjun of Busan completed his registration as a preliminary candidate and officially began his campaign for a third term. Mayor Park described his past five years in office as a "transformed era," highlighting his achievements and expressing his ambition to continue Busan's progress as a global city.

That afternoon, Mayor Park held a press conference at the Busan City Council in Yeonje-gu, Busan, to outline his vision. He emphasized his record by stating, "Busan is no longer the city of the past but has become a global city," and added, "There have been significant changes across all areas, including jobs, high-tech industries, logistics, finance, culture and tourism, and urban infrastructure."

Park Hyungjun, the candidate for Mayor of Busan from the People Power Party, held a press conference at the Busan City Council in Yeonje-gu, Busan, on the afternoon of the 27th to announce his candidacy. Photo by Yonhap News

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He continued, "We have come this far by staying on the right path, and now what is needed is to complete these changes without interruption," explaining, "I am running for mayor again to fulfill the responsibility of bringing this transformation to completion."

Regarding the nature of this election, he defined it as "not merely a local election, but one that will decide the future of Busan and the direction of democracy in the Republic of Korea." Mayor Park stressed, "The single-centered structure around the capital region cannot break the trap of low growth, and innovative balanced development is not a choice but a matter of survival."

With respect to the Global Hub City Special Act, he criticized, "The Lee Jaemyung administration is blocking the special act, which was signed by 1.6 million Busan citizens, by citing unreasonable reasons," and asserted, "This is clearly discrimination against Busan." He also targeted Jeon Jaesoo, the Democratic Party candidate who was the bill's primary sponsor, saying, "He promised Busan citizens that the bill would pass immediately, but changed his stance at the president's word, thus breaking his promise to the people of Busan."

Mayor Park framed this election as one about "defending democracy." He argued that Busan must play a central role in upholding democracy in this local election.

He stated, "The Democratic Party administration is trying to dominate not only the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, but also the local governments, undermining the principle of checks and balances in democracy," and appealed, "Busan, which has always risen first in the critical moments of Korea's modern democratic history, must once again become the bulwark against one-party rule."

Finally, Mayor Park emphasized, "When all 3.2 million citizens of Busan unite as one, transcending ideology, political camps, generations, and social classes, only then can we achieve the completion of a global city," adding, "I will open the path to such unity."

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