Daejeon Mayoral Race: Who Will Win? A Closer Look at Candidates Yoo Young-ha and Choo Kyung-ho

Translation result
The People Power Party has narrowed its Daegu mayoral primary to a head-to-head contest between Yoo Young-ha and Choo Kyung-ho (listed in Korean alphabetical order).

Park Deok-heum, chair of the party’s nomination committee, announced the Daegu primary results at the party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, on April 17.

Candidates Yoo Young-ha, Yoon Jae-ok, Lee Jae-man, Choi Eun-seok, Choo Kyung-ho and Hong Seok-jun competed in the Daegu primary. The party conducted a two-day selection beginning April 15, using a 70% weight for registered party members’ votes and 30% for public opinion polling to determine the two finalists for the main primary.

The main primary will include a debate on April 19, voting on April 24–25, and the party plans to announce its nominee on April 26.

On the possibility of a unified Daegu candidate, Park said the party cannot force unification internally. He added that if candidates hold a contest outside the party, they could agree to unite, but that outcome would be up to the candidates after the party finalizes its nominee.

Regarding the timing of any by-election should a lawmaker resign after the nominee is confirmed, Park said the party will set the schedule as needed if a candidate steps down.

In the North Chungcheong (Chungbuk) governor’s primary, Yoon Gap-geun advanced to the final round and will face the incumbent, Governor Kim Young-hwan.

The Chungbuk final primary will include a debate on April 20, voting on April 25–26, and the party plans to confirm its nominee on April 27.

In addition, the top three positions on the regional proportional-representation list for South Jeolla Province (Jeonnam) and the city of Gwangju were set: No. 1 Lee O-suk, No. 2 Kim Soon-ok and No. 3 Chae Myung-hee.

That regional proportional contest was decided entirely by registered party-member votes. The party converted the electorate results to a 100% scale and applied adjustment points for each candidate to determine the final order.

Normally, the selection would be reviewed by the provincial nomination jury, but because the matter was transferred to the central party, it will now be reviewed and finalized by the central nomination jury.