Kim Jong-moon Launches Campaign to Transform Donghae: Can His Experience Drive Change?

Translation result

Kim Jong-moon, the People Power Party’s mayoral primary candidate in Donghae, held a campaign office opening in Cheongok-dong on the afternoon of April 4, formally launching a primary campaign built on strong drive and execution.
 
Prominent local figures and a large number of supporters packed the event, adding intensity to the gathering. The room erupted in applause and cheers when Kim appeared, and his candidacy raised expectations for change across Donghae.
 
Kim Jong-moon emphasized his slogan, “Now the citizen is the mayor,” saying, “Citizens are the owners of administration, and the mayor must be the person who most effectively carries out the citizens’ will.” He added, “Donghae stands at a crossroads. We cannot afford hesitation. With proven experience and decisive momentum, I will reshape Donghae.”
 
He presented forty years in public service and his budget-management experience as core strengths. Stressing practical leadership proven in the field rather than abstract theory, he said, “I look for answers in the field, not on a desk, and I deliver results.”
 
Kim also referenced six years of volunteer work after leaving public office, noting, “That time allowed me to live among citizens and feel their hardships and needs firsthand. Now I will translate that experience into policy and measurable results.”
 
He highlighted crisis-response credentials, citing efforts that sustained the local community during the IMF crisis and major projects such as opening the access road to Mangsang Beach and creating a hanok village. Those achievements, he said, demonstrate both crisis management and execution capacity. “In difficult times, a leader’s decisions and speed determine a city’s future,” he said.
 
His five core pledges announced at the event focused on rapid change and delivering concrete outcomes. Kim said he will build an integrated cluster of ports, industrial parks, and hydrogen industries to position Donghae as a Northeast Asian industrial hub, and expand year-round tourism infrastructure to create a new growth engine for the local economy.
 
He also pledged to improve quality of life through a “Happy Mother City” initiative and a strengthened welfare community, pursue balanced regional development through station-area redevelopment and population-attraction strategies, and realize a sustainable, mutually beneficial city through return-on-investment projects and public–private partnership management.
 
“Donghae has significant potential, but it has lacked the driving force to make that potential real,” Kim said. “Now is the time to speak with results, not plans.”
 
He emphasized, “A person who can secure budgets and complete projects can change a city. With my proven hands-on experience and a network spanning central and local government, I will install a new economic engine for Donghae.”
 
“I will attract businesses, create jobs, and bring young people back,” he added. “I will be the mayor who produces tangible change that citizens can feel—and who does it quickly.”
 
Kim concluded, “Today is not just the opening of a campaign office; it is the starting line for changing Donghae’s future. I will run with the citizens and win with the citizens to open a new era for Donghae,” expressing firm determination.